With no more NWSL Draft, the Spirit 2024 rookie class may be the best of all-time.
The Washington Spirit rookie class – including Croix Bethune, Hal Hershfelt, Kate Wiesner, Makenna Morris, Courtney Brown, and Heather Stainbrook – has made a seismic impact this season, immediately stepping into key roles and performing at an elevated level. Each of these rookies has scored this season, contributing 15 of the Spirit’s 50 goals. This is the most goals by a rookie class in the NWSL this season, and the most by a Spirit rookie cohort in team history.
Following the ratification of a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the NWSL Players Association and the NWSL, there will no longer be a draft in future seasons. So, we are left to wonder if the Spirit 2024 rookie class is perhaps the best of all time. Below, we dive into some of the highlights of each of these six players that have contributed to this historic success.
CROIX BETHUNE
Selected with the third overall pick in the 2024 NWSL Draft, Bethune cemented herself as one of the best rookies the NWSL has ever seen. Notably, she tied Tobin Heath’s longstanding NWSL record for assists in a single season (10), doing so across a 12-game span. In May, Bethune recorded three assists in a single game, becoming just the fifth player in league history to do so.
Bethune didn’t just dish it out—she scored as well. On the season, Bethune tallied five goals, including two result-changing, all-time classics. On March 23, she buried a second-half stoppage-time winner against Bay FC in the team’s home opener. Before a sold-out crowd at Audi Field on June 15, Bethune’s late-game heroics struck again as she beat defender Naomi Girma and goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan to tie the match against San Diego. Her subsequent dice roll celebration became one of the league’s most iconic of the season.
The fifth overall selection in the 2024 NWSL Draft, Hershfelt has been a monumental asset for the Sprit in the midfield. Hershfelt didn’t take long to make an impact, starting in her first career NWSL match and then scoring a goal in her Audi Field debut—just the second match of the season. She became the fifth Spirit player to score in her regular season home debut, joining legendary Spirit company – Ashley Hatch, Diana Matheson, Ashley Sanchez, and Sam Staab.Hershfelt continued to make her presence known: On April 12, she became the second player in Spirit history to score multiple goals in her first four matches with the club thanks to a second half goal against the Houston Dash.
Like Bethune, Hershfelt was one of four Spirit players to selected by the USWNT to represent the United States at the Olympic Games where she served as an alternate. In October, Hershfelt earned her first international cap in a friendly against Iceland.
With the team’s third first round pick in the 2024 NWSL Draft, the Spirit selected Kate Wiesner, a defender out of Penn State. The former Nittany Lion was injured for a large chunk of 2024, but her versatility on the field made a mark throughout the season. Featured at both side back and wing, she made a fair mix of starts and appearances for the Spirit and logged her first NWSL goal against Utah on June 8. Wiesner was also selected to participate in the the USWNT’s pre-Olympics training camp.
— Washington Spirit – x (@WashSpirit) June 9, 2024
MAKENNA MORRIS
Germantown, Maryland native Makenna Morris rounded out the Spirit’s first round, joining Clemson teammate Hershfelt. Although sidelined with injury for a majority of the season, Morris proved ready to take on the league once she was healthy. In her first start on July 6, she became the first player in club history to record a goal, an assist, and draw a penalty in the same game.
— Washington Spirit – x (@WashSpirit) July 7, 2024
On October 13, Morris added a first half brace to her resumé, scoring twice within seven minutes. She joined Mallory Swanson as the only Spirit rookies to score a brace in their debut seasons. In total, Morris’ scored three game-winning goals this season.
At pick 49, Courtney Brown was the Spirit’s final selection on draft night. Brown became the first Utah Ute to be selected in the NWSL Draft since 2016 when Lindsey Luke was selected by the Seattle Reign. On June 23, Brown added her first career NWSL goal off an assist from fellow rookie Bethune. Brown has been a testament of consistency this season, serving in both the midfield and front line while making appearances in nearly every regular season game.
Heather Stainbrook signed with the Spirit as an undrafted rookie. After an injury to star Andi Sullivan, Stainbrook made key starts late in the season alongside Hershfelt and Brown in the midfield. On October 20, she scored her first career NWSL goal, a game-winner against Chicago to keep the Spirit’s #2-seed hopes alive.
Orlando Pride
