The North Carolina Courage made a big splash during the opening round of the 2024 NWSL Draft, presented by Ally, when they acquired US Women’s National Team rising star Ashley Sanchez from the Washington Spirit in exchange for the fifth overall pick and $250,000 of allocation money. Sanchez immediately bolsters the Courage attack as a player that can fill in the attacking midfield spot or front line for head coach Sean Nahas. Get to know the newest member of Courage Country with our Quick Kicks series. National Treasure Sanchez has been a consistent contributor for her country over the last four years as one of the rising stars for the United States. She has 25 caps for the Stars and Stripes, including the 2022 Concacaf W Championship and a call-up for last summer’s World Cup, the first of her career. She has three goals and four assists at the senior international level. In High Spirits Sanchez has 17 goals and eight assists across all competitions with the Spirit since joining the club in 2020. She helped the club to the 2021 NWSL Championship and a runner-up finish in the 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup. Sanchez played 1,603 minutes across 20 NWSL regular season matches in 2023. She scored five goals, added an assist, and created 20 chances while passing at a 72.5% accuracy. She won 67% of her tackles, won 26 possessions in the attacking third, and made 123 recoveries which – according to Opta – ranked second among attacking players in the league. Something’s Bruin Before turning pro, Sanchez played three seasons at UCLA, tallying 23 goals and 42 assists across 69 matches. A three-time First Team All-Pac-12 honoree, Sanchez also set various school records during her tenure with the Bruins, including career assists (42), career NCAA Tournament assists (14), consecutive games with a goal or assist (13), assists as a freshman (12) and single game assists (4) among others.