Pride Trade Aubrey Bledsoe, Acquire Defender Shelina Zadorsky

The Orlando Pride have made their second offseason acquisition, and it came by way of a trade.

Late Tuesday morning, the Pride announced the acquisition of Canadian women’s national-team defender Shelina Zadorsky from the Washington Spirit in exchange for goalkeeper Aubrey Bledsoe and a first-round pick in the 2019 National Women’s Soccer League College Draft.

This is not the first time Orlando has traded for a Washington defender in the offseason. Just a little over a year ago, the Pride acquired defender Ali Krieger to strengthen their back line.

“Shelina brings strong defensive qualities [to Orlando]. The way we play, one of our emphases this year is that we need to be less vulnerable defensively,” Pride head coach Tom Sermanni said, per the release. “Bringing in Shelina, who is an out-and-out center back, who also has extensive international experience with the Canadian national team, will be a big asset for us.”

At 25 years old, Zadorsky heads to Orlando after playing the last two seasons in D.C. The Canadian served as the Spirit’s team captain in the 2017 season, starting 20 of her 21 appearances and tallying an assist.

In the 2016 season, Zadorsky and Krieger helped lead the Spirit to the NSWL final, ultimately losing 2-2 (3-2) to the Western New York Flash. In the semifinal match against against the Chicago Red Stars, Zadorsky assisted on Krieger’s opening goal.

After attending the University of Michigan, Zadorsky got her professional career started in 2014 in Australia’s Westfield W-League with Perth Glory FC.

With the Glory, she scored a goal in 14 appearances. In addition to playing in Australia, she also played for Swedish side Vittsjö GIK in 2015, appearing in 18 of 22 matches, before joining the NWSL.

Internationally, the London, Ontario, native has made 34 appearances for the Canadian national team, scoring a goal. Zadorsky started all five of Canada’s matches at the 2016 Summer Olympics, where the team finished with a bronze medal.

As for Bledsoe, she was Orlando’s 10th and final pick in the 2015 NWSL Expansion Draft. With Sky Blue FC, her previous team, she made just one appearance.

Over her two seasons with the Pride, she made 12 appearances, 11 in 2017 after starting goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris tore a hamstring in late May 2017. During Bledsoe’s time as the starter, the Pride went 5-4-2 and had two shutouts.

“Obviously any time we trade a player, we are sad to lose them, particularly players who have been here since Day 1, but we chatted with Aubrey in the offseason,” Sermanni said. “We’ve always felt that Aubrey was a starting goalkeeper in this league, and we think she could go to D.C. and do that.

“We’ll miss Aubrey and thank her for everything she helped us achieve in Orlando but know that this will be a great opportunity for her career.”

For more on the Pride, as they continue making offseason moves, follow Sarah Kelliher on Twitter at @sarahkelliher4.