Dunn is No. 1

Crystal Dunn, a Rockville Centre native and a University of North Carolina soccer standout, was the first pick in the National Women’s Soccer League draft on Jan. 17. She will play for the Washington Spirit in the upcoming season, which starts in April.

“I’m so happy to be a part of this new league that just started,” Dunn said, “and obviously to go number one is an amazing achievement.”

Dunn will be a defender for the Spirit, one of the eight founding teams in the NWSL, which played its inaugural season last year and added a ninth team, the Houston Dash, for 2014. The team is based in Germantown, Md.

“I am very proud to welcome Crystal and her parents to the club, and ecstatic that we have just picked up one of the most exciting players in the country,” Mark Parsons, the Spirit’s general manager and head coach, said in a statement.

Dunn, who graduated from South Side High School in 2010, has been a starting midfielder at UNC since her freshman year and consistently racked up honors for her play, ranging from ACC Defensive Player of the Year in her freshman year to the MAC Hermann Trophy, NCAA soccer’s highest honor, in 2012. Her stellar play at North Carolina, which helped the Tar Heels win the NCAA soccer title in 2012, attracted the attention of the coaching staff of the U.S. women’s national soccer team, which called her up to play against South Korea last June.

Having grown up in soccer-friendly Rockville Centre and been strongly encouraged by her parents, Dunn has been immersed in the sport since age 4, and won numerous awards for her play at South Side High. She was named a Parade All-American and a New York Player of the Year in 2009, and competed for the All-State First Team in three of her four high school seasons. She played for club teams including the Albertson Fury, the Rockville Centre Tornadoes and the Rockville Centre Power, which she helped win a state title.

Although the Spirit finished in last place last season, Dunn said she is excited about playing in Washington. Three of her teammates — Ali Krieger, Ashlyn Harris and Yael Averbuch — are familiar faces from the women’s national team, and they have filled her in on many of the details of playing for Parsons and in the D.C. and Maryland community.

“I’m getting a lot of good vibes,” Dunn said. “Overall, it’s a great environment to be in. The facilities are awesome, the field is amazing.”

She will report to the team on March 10, she said, just before the preseason starts. Should the Spirit make the playoffs, Dunn will play roughly one game a week through late August.

“It’s just an honor,” she said. “Just to get drafted is a huge accomplishment.”