The 2022 NWSL College Draft had plenty of surprises, including the selection of Naomi Girma over Jaelin Howell at No. 1 overall. 

To see a list of every pick in the draft, click here. Meanwhile, here’s Just Women’s Sports five biggest surprises from an eventful college draft.

1. San Diego picks Girma, still needs midfielders

After selecting no midfielders in the expansion draft, many thought that San Diego would opt to go with Jaelin Howell to help bolster the midfield. Instead, they went with Naomi Girma, two-time Pac-12 Defender of the Year. While Girma will nonetheless add value to San Diego’s defense, which will also feature Abby Dahlkemper, the pick leaves the Wave still looking to fill out their midfield.

San Diego could use Girma as a defensive midfielder, where she has been used before. She even scored eight goals during her career at Stanford, including the rocket below.

With the No. 1 pick in the 2022 @NWSL Draft, @sandiegowavefc selects Naomi Girma from @StanfordWSoccer. pic.twitter.com/ePwcnGsz7V

— TopDrawerSoccer (@TopDrawerSoccer) December 18, 2021

In the second round, San Diego did select Sydney Pulver out of Washington State to fill one of the midfield spots, but the team could use a few more to round out the roster.

2. Mia Fishel falls to Orlando

The Orlando Pride may have gotten the steal of the draft with UCLA’s Mia Fishel falling all the way to fifth. Fishel will fill some holes for Orlando, who dealt Alex Morgan to San Diego FC following the expansion draft. In 59 games, she scored 32 goals and added 14 assists to etch her name into the Bruins’ top 10 all-time goal scorers in just three seasons.

With the ability to step in at striker, she could provide some needed help for Sydney Leroux, who has carried much of the Pride’s scoring burden over the past few seasons. She will also be reuniting with her college head coach Amanda Cromwell, who was recently named head coach of the Orlando Pride. Look for Fishel to continue to thrive under Cromwell and potentially become one of the Pride’s leading scorers in her rookie year.

3. Sydny Nasello falls to the second round

This one was a big surprise, as Just Women’s Sports had projected Nasello as going fifth to the Orlando Pride. A wide attacker who can play along the flank, Nasello could have provided any team with some depth across the forward line. While the selection of Fishel to Orlando made sense, that Nasello fell out of the first round came as a relative shocker — and could be a huge boon for the Thorns, who picked her at 13th. 

The forward should fit in well in Portland, with the ability to further develop her game alongside Christine Sinclair and Sophia Smith. 

4. Louisville goes young after trading for McDonald

With six of last year’s expansion draft players up for selection in this year’s expansion draft, Louisville appears to be looking to start over. That sentiment didn’t change with Saturday’s college draft, as they selected Savannah DeMelo and Jaelin Howell to help bolster an attack that will now be led by Jessica McDonald. The club first traded away Savannah McCaskill to Angel City FC in exchange for the No. 6 pick in the draft, which they used on DeMelo. 

The club finished the 2021 season at the bottom of the league, just one spot ahead of Kansas City, after going 5-7-12. While Kansas City has added some veteran depth in Sam Mewis, Louisville appears to be going young, hoping to build around breakout star Ebony Salmon. The 33-year-old McDonald may seem like a curious pick up given the youth movement, but the two-time NWSL champion and World Cup winner should provide a steady veteran presence. 

5. Small schools make a splash

Multiple NWSL teams elected to pick up small-school superstars later on in the first round. At eighth, OL Reign selected Zsanett Kajan from St. John’s University. At ninth, San Diego selected Marleen Schimmer out of Grand Canyon. Then, at 12th, Kaitlin Fregulia out of Long Beach State was selected by North Carolina. 

It’s always fun to see how sleeper picks do in the league. One to keep an eye on would be Kajan. While at St. John’s, Kajan was an offensive powerhouse, scoring 16 goals in 18 games during the 2021 season. She’ll get to learn under some of the league’s best in Megan Rapinoe, Bethany Balcer and Tziarra King. The same can be said for Fregulia, who will get to play alongside Abby Erceg and Carson Pickett, while Schimmer will get to develop alongside Alex Morgan in San Diego.

More NWSL stars are jumping ship, as both the San Diego Wave and North Carolina Courage saw respective key players Delphine Cascarino and Denise O'Sullivan sign with WSL clubs over the last few days.

Former Wave forward Cascarino inked a deal through the 2029/30 season with the London City Lionesses on Monday, one day after San Diego announced they had mutually parted ways with the French international despite her contract running through 2026 with an option for the 2027 NWSL season.

"I'm really happy to be here," said the 28-year-old in a statement. "London City is the only independent women's club in the WSL, which excites me."

North Carolina midfielder and captain O'Sullivan made a similar move on Saturday, as the Ireland international signed with Liverpool following more than eight seasons and a club-record 186 appearances for the Courage.

The last-place WSL team reportedly shelled out a club-record transfer fee of approximately £300,000 to roster the 31-year-old two-time NWSL champion and three-time Shield-winner, who called Liverpool "a new challenge" that will see her "only a 40-minute flight away" from her family in Cork, Ireland.

Though the NWSL departures of Cascarino and O'Sullivan mark a kind of homecoming for the European standouts, they are just the latest to exit the US league, after USWNT star Sam Coffey joined WSL-leaders Manchester City last week.

"England — for men and women — is the country of football," noted Cascarino. "It's always been a goal of mine to play in this league."

New York Sirens forward Taylor Girard made PWHL history this week, earning a record four-game suspension for leaving the bench to join a line skirmish at the end of Sunday's 2-1 win over the Montréal Victoire.

The brawl occurred at the the final buzzer of the PWHL's record-breaking Takeover Tour stop in Washington, DC, with eight players — four Sirens and four from the Victoire — subsequently issued 10-minute misconducts in addition to Girard's infraction.

As the sole player not originally on the ice to join the skirmish, Girard was the only player to receive an additional 20-minute charge.

Even more, Girard's actions immediately triggered a four-game suspension, as the PWHL Rulebook dictates that exact punishment for "the first player to leave the players' bench illegally during an altercation or for the purpose of starting an altercation from either or both Teams."

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The four-game ban marks the longest punishment in PWHL history, doubling the two-game suspension that Seattle Torrent defender Aneta Tejralová received for an illegal check to the head last month.

With the PWHL on break after January 28th as 30% of the league's rosters compete in the 2026 Winter Olympics, the four-game suspension means that Girard — who sits second on New York's scoring sheet with five goals on the season — will not be available for the No. 2 Sirens until March 5th.

The WTGL is stocking up on golf stars, as TMRW Sports' newly announced offseason league begins to build its debut roster in partnership with the LPGA.

World No. 1 golfer Jeeno Thitikul (Thailand) signed on to participate in WTGL's inaugural season this week, alongside No. 5 Charley Hull (England), No. 6 Lydia Ko (New Zealand), No. 25 Brooke Henderson (Canada), and No. 79 Lexi Thompson (USA).

"WTGL will be a global stage to showcase LPGA stars, and this first wave of committed players represents that opportunity with some of the world's best," said TMRW Sports founder and CEO Mike McCarley in Monday's press release.

Set to launch next winter, the WTGL looks to build off the popular, second-year men's Tomorrow's Golf League (TGL), with the competition integrating both a physical and virtual golf environment inside Palm Beach Gardens at Florida's SoFi Center.

"These players will thrive in WTGL's competitive environment as fans will witness their skill and connect more deeply with their personalities through the unprecedented access the league delivers," said McCarley, noting that TGL golfers remain mic'd up throughout the team event.

The WTGL is also earning stamps of approval from several women's sports greats, as the Alex Morgan co-founded Trybe Ventures — an investment group that includes Morgan's fellow former USWNT stars Mia Hamm and Abby Wambach — became the new league's lead capital partner last week.

The WSL is cashing in on the women's game, with two UK clubs surpassing €25 million in annual revenue for the first time, according to the Deloitte Football Money League report on the 2024/25 season that dropped this week.

Reigning UWCL champions Arsenal topped the list for the first time after taking in €25.6 million last season, followed closely by WSL title-holders Chelsea FC's €25.4 million.

Meanwhile, Perennial European contender FC Barcelona (€22 million) dropped to third after leading the group in 2023/24, outpacing WSL titans No. 4 Manchester City (€12.9 million) and No. 5 Manchester United (€12.8 million).

Due to a lack of revenue data, the yearly study did not include major women's leagues in the US, Sweden, or Australia, giving the rankings a European bent as the total sum crossed the €150 million mark for the first time — a 35% increase over the previous season's Top-15 Money League clubs.

Commercial income was the biggest revenue driver for many top clubs, with sponsorship deals and brand partnerships leading the charge.

Arsenal also benefitted from increased revenue on the men's side, allowing the women's team to up its investment while avoiding running at a loss.

How to watch the top Deloitte Football Money League clubs in action

Deloitte Football Money League leader Arsenal will take on No. 5 Man United while revenue runners-up Chelsea will face the WSL-leading Man City in the 2025/26 Women's League Cup semifinals on Wednesday.

The concurrent clashes will kick off at 2 PM ET, streaming live on YouTube.