Thorns select Ryan, Coffey, Ali, and Betfort in the 2021 NWSL Draft

After over four and a half hours, the 2021 NWSL Draft has ended. It was a night filled with numerous trades and way too many timeouts, but it was exciting nevertheless. So how did the night end up for Portland Thorns FC? Here’s a recap.

Portland started the draft with the 7th, 12th, 22nd, 32nd, and 37th picks. Things quickly changed. The Thorns traded the 7th and 32nd pick and a 2021 international spot for the sixth pick.

The Thorns used the sixth pick to draft Yazmeen Ryan a senior midfielder from TCU. Ryan was named to the 2018 and 2019 USSCA 1st-Team All-Midwest Region, Big 12 All-Tournament Team, and 2018 and 2019 1st-Team All-Big 12.

Portland Thorns selected Penn State midfielder Samantha Coffey with the 12th pick of the draft. During the 2019 season, Coffey was ranked second in the Big Ten in points with 32. She was also tied for second with 11 goals.

Ten picks later, Amirah Ali was selected by the Thorns. She is a forward/midfielder coming out of Rutgers, and she was named to the 2019 All-American First Team, 2019 All-Region First Team, and the 2019 All-Big Ten First Team. In her career, Ali scored 25 goals and provided 12 assists.

The Thorns used their last pick (37th) of the draft on Hannah Betfort. She captained Wake Forest in the 2019 and 2020 season. The defender started all nine games during the fall season and earned third team All-ACC honors.

For a recap of the whole draft, take a look at our open thread here.