June 18, 2024 – National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL)
Washington Spirit News Release
Three weeks ago, Lindsay Agnew was the typical college senior, wondering where her life would take her after leaving her collegiate home of four years. However, life started coming together quickly for Agnew when within the span of two weeks she was drafted by the Washington Spirit and invited to participate in her first senior Canadian National Team camp.
The Spirit drafted the Ohio State University star with the No. 19 overall pick at the 2017 NWSL College Draft. Unable to attend the draft in person, Agnew and her three roommates (including eventual Houston Dash draftee Nichelle Prince) livestreamed the proceedings on their TV in their apartment. After waiting through nearly the first two rounds, Lindsay heard Amanda Duffy, Managing Director of Operations for the NWSL, announce her name as the newest draftee of the Washington Spirit.
“I’ve never won the lottery, but I think that it could be a comparable feeling: just overwhelming excitement and happiness,” Agnew said of hearing her name called. “It was a very surreal moment, having something that I had dreamed about for a long time come true. I’ll never forget it.”
Of course, a lot more skill and hard work went into this moment than winning the lottery.
Agnew led her Ohio State team her senior year with 10 goals and eight assists while serving as co-captain. In 2015, she started all 23 matches, led her team and tied for second in the Big Ten with seven assists, and was named to the Big Ten All-Tournament team. That year, the Buckeyes beat Virginia Tech in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to advance to the Sweet 16, which Agnew calls the most memorable moment of her college career.
“We were the underdogs and scored on them late in the game to win it,” she recalls fondly. “I was so excited I almost choked my teammate who scored the winning goal.”
A year later, she was the first player in Ohio State history to be chosen in the NWSL College Draft, joined nine picks later by Prince. Another week after that, she was called into her first senior Canadian National Team camp.
“It has definitely been a great couple of weeks and an awesome start to 2017,” said the 21-year-old. “I’ve been working my whole life toward getting the opportunity to play both professionally and for my national team. There have been, of course, a lot of ups and downs in the process of trying to reach those goals, so to have both of those…