Dec. 12, 2000

Former Notre Dame midfielder/defender Kara Brown (Avon, CT, ’00) was selected on Monday’s second and final day of the Women’s United Soccer Association (WUSA) inaugural draft, giving the Irish a total of seven former players who have been drafted or allocated to one of the league’s eight franchises.

Brown was selected in the 10th round (of 15) with the 79th overall pick and is the third former Notre Dame player drafted by San Diego, following midfielder Shannon Boxx (third round) and forward/midfielder Jenny Streiffer-Mascaro (fourth round).

Notre Dame’s total of seven former players drafted or allocated to teams in the WUSA ranks among the most from any Division I school, with other top WUSA-producing teams including North Carolina (21), Santa Clara (14), Stanford (9), Portland (8), Nebraska (7), Connecticut (6), Clemson (5), North Carolina State (5) and UCLA (5).

Several recent Notre Dame All-Americans did not submit their names as potential WUSA draft selections for the 2001 season, with that group including midfielders Cindy Daws (’97) and Holly Manthei (’98), goaltender Jen Renola (’97) and defender Jen Grubb (’00).

The WUSA also plans to hold a supplementary draft next February, in which current college seniors may be selected (they also were available for this week’s draft). Two Notre Dame seniors who recently completed their college playing careers-forward Meotis Erikson (Kennewick, Wash.) and defender Kelly Lindsey (Omaha, Neb.)-still could be selected in the February draft.

Each team ultimately will trim its roster to 20 players prior to the start of play in April of 2001. Each team’s roster currently includes 20 players (15 draft picks, three allocated U.S. players and two allocated foreign players).