Plus, Fire announce preseason schedule.
It’s almost time for both the MLS SuperDraft and the NWSL College Draft. The former takes place on Thursday with the Fire having the 10th and 26th picks in the first round. The latter takes place a week from Thursday in Baltimore with the Red Stars making some deals.
RED STARS TRADE FOR OHAI: On Monday, the Chicago Red Stars traded the 6th overall pick in the College Draft to North Carolina Courage for the 9th and 18th overall picks. The Red Stars then flipped that 18th pick and defender Katie Naughton to Houston Dash for forward Kealia Ohai (who is engaged to the Houston Texans’ JJ Watt).
Ohai was selected second overall by Houston in the 2014 NWSL College Draft. She scored eight goals and tallied six assists throughout her first two seasons.
She inserted herself amongst the league’s most lethal goalscorers in 2016, scoring 11 goals in 10 games and finishing the season tied for the league’s Golden Boot.
Ohai continued her scoring ways at the beginning of the 2017 season with two goals in the first three games of the year before injury cut her season short. She would return from injury the following year, finishing the campaign with five goals.
“Any team in the league would jump at the opportunity to add Kealia to their roster,” Red Stars Head Coach Rory Dames said. “She has proven her ability to score at this level and we are excited to get her integrated into our group. We look forward to having her here in Chicago.”
Naughton made 88 appearances in four seasons for the Red Stars and was named club defender of the year in 2018.
FIRE PRESEASON SCHEDULE ANNOUNCED: Chicago Fire FC announced its preseason schedule with stops in Tampa and Los Angeles. The Fire will be in Tampa from January 26th to February 6th and play a pair of friendlies in the process. They will play the Philadelphia Union on February 1st and a second opponent to be announced on February 6th.
After three days in Chicago, the Fire will travel to Los Angeles and will have friendlies against Orange County SC (Feb. 12), Colorado Rapids (Feb. 15), Toronto FC (Feb. 19), and LA Galaxy (Feb. 22).
