The final three rounds of the NWHL Draft took place on Wednesday night, and the still-unnamed Toronto expansion franchise selected Robert Morris forward Natalie Marcuzzi in the fourth round, No. 22 overall.
The pick was announced on Twitter by Kayla Alexander, a Toronto native who plays for the Minnesota Lynx in the WNBA:
Here’s Toronto native and member of the @minnesotalynx @kjalexan40 to announce the 22nd Overall Pick of the 2020 #NWHLDraft for @TorontoNWHL 🇨🇦@TheWNBPA // @WNBA pic.twitter.com/gnHkoMY2pi
— NWHL (@NWHL) April 30, 2020
Marcuzzi is the second Robert Morris player to be selected in the draft after forward Jaycee Gebhard was selected Tuesday in the first round, No. 6 overall, also by Toronto.
Marcuzzi, 22, was an alternate captain this season for the Colonials, and recorded seven goals and eight assists in 36 games. In her four collegiate seasons, she amassed a total of 20 goals and 20 assists in 139 games.
Marcuzzi is the fourth former Colonial to be drafted into the NWHL, following Gebhard, defender Maggie Lague (No. 22 overall, 2018) and forward Brittany Howard (No. 10 overall, 2017). Neither Lague nor Howard played in the NWHL after being drafted, and are now members of the independent Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association, which tours and plays exhibition games across North America.
Six Robert Morris products have played in the NWHL — forward Rebecca Vint (’15), forward Ashley Vesci (’15), goaltender Brianne McLaughlin (’11), forward Morgan Beikirch ’09, and goaltender Meeri Räisänen (’11). Former operations director and assistant coach Kelley Steadman also played two seasons as a forward in the NWHL.
The unnamed-Toronto expansion team is the NWHL’s sixth franchise, second expansion team, and first Canadian team. Five players — defender Kristen Barbara, goaltender Elaine Chuli, forward Shiann Darkangelo, defender Emma Greco and forward Taylor Woods — have already signed contracts with Toronto.
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