UCLA women’s soccer seniors Darian Jenkins and Lauren Kaskie were chosen in the first and fourth rounds, respectively, of the 2016 National Women’s Soccer League on Thursday.
The North Carolina Courage, formerly known as the Western New York Flash, drafted Jenkins with the seventh overall pick. The forward becomes the sixth Bruin on the roster, along with midfielders Samantha Mewis, Abby Dahlkemper and McCall Zerboni, goalkeeper Katelyn Rowland and forward Taylor Smith.
Jenkins finished second at UCLA in points and goals with 17 and seven – five of them game-winners – despite missing the Bruins’ final 11 games with a fractured fibula. She finished her collegiate career with 29 goals and 12 assists, while earning third-team NSCAA All-American and Pac-12 Freshman of the Year honors in 2013.
[Related: Jenkins’ injury forces UCLA to adjust offensive strategy and lineup]
With the second-to-last pick of the draft, the Chicago Red Stars picked Kaskie, a former Nevada Gatorade Girls’ Soccer Player of the Year and U.S. U-20 National Team member. The midfielder played in 91 games at UCLA and was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman team in her first year. She only scored three goals as a Bruin, but two of them were game-winners, including a double-overtime golden goal at then-No. 5 Stanford her freshman year.
Jenkins and Kaskie mark the ninth and 10th UCLA players taken in the history of the NWSL draft, which began in 2013.
