Alyssa Thompson picked No. 1 by Angel City FC

Angel City FC selected 18-year-old forward Alyssa Thompson as the first overall pick on Thursday in the 2023 NWSL draft.

Thompson, a senior at Harvard-Westlake in Los Angeles, becomes the first high schooler to be drafted in the No. 1 spot in NWSL history.

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“It’s honestly really surreal,” Thompson told ESPN. “I’m honored I get to be mentioned with the other first picks like Naomi Girma, Sophia Smith, Andi Sullivan. All of them are amazing players and for me to be another name on that list is so cool to me.

“I would’ve never thought, even a year ago, that I would be the first high schooler to hold that spot.”

After Thompson’s selection, NY/NJ Gotham FC traded away the No. 2 pick to the Kansas City Current in exchange for USWNT player Lynn Williams, and the Current used that pick on Duke forward Michelle Cooper. The Orlando Pride selected Florida State defender Emily Madril at No. 3 and Gotham FC used the No. 4 pick to take her teammate Jenna Nighswonger, a central midfielder.

Angel City ultimately acquired the pick used on Thompson in a three-team trade last week with the Portland Thorns and NY/NJ Gotham FC, trading the club’s 2023 first-round pick (No. 5), their 2024 second-round top pick and allocation money to acquire midfielder Yazmeen Ryan from the Thorns.

Angel City then sent Ryan and an additional $250,000 in allocation money to Gotham FC for the first overall pick, finalizing the deal. The Thorns used the No. 5 pick acquired from Angel City on Alabama midfielder Reyna Reyes, the 2022 SEC defensive player of the year.

“It’s an incredible statement that we’re making in bringing Alyssa into Angel City as our No. 1 pick, and also what we did to get the No. 1 pick. Because we didn’t have that,” Angel City general manager Angela Hucles Mangano told ESPN.

“We wanted to look both short-term and…