American Falls High School graduate Maria Sanchez was picked 15th overall by the Chicago Red Stars in the National Women’s Soccer League College Draft on Thursday.

Sanchez received the news from Red Stars head coach Rory Dames, who called her right before an official announcement was made during the draft at the United Soccer Coaches Convention in Chicago. Sanchez and her Santa Clara teammates were watching the draft online from the college’s campus.

With a smile on her face, Sanchez told Dames “thank you so much” before ending the phone call and watching her name be announced on the television in a Santa Clara locker room.

“I was in disbelief,” said Sanchez, who has graduated from Santa Clara but is still training there to prepare for her soccer future. “It was really exciting. I didn’t know it was going to happen. So when it did, it was crazy.”

Without receiving any hints on who would draft her or if she would be drafted, Sanchez still watched each the first 14 selections of the NWSL draft. The NWSL is the United States’ top women’s soccer league, and the Portland Thorns Football Club was the only team that spoke to Sanchez before Thursday.

The second-round pick completed her college soccer career this past fall at Santa Clara, where the forward was the NCAA Division I leader in assists this past season. Sanchez spent the first two years of her college career at Idaho State University.

“She has some qualities that we lack on our team, so it was a good fit,” said Dames, the Red Stars’ ninth-year head coach, who has drafted another Idaho native in Boise’s Sofia Huerta in 2015. “(Sanchez is) naturally left-footed, and we were lacking in a natural left-footed player. And she loves to go 1 v. 1 at players and engage them and take them on.”

The Red Stars used their second pick on Sanchez after using the No. 1 pick in the draft on Stanford’s Tierna Davidson. The Red Stars, who feature U.S. Women’s National Team defender and World Cup champion Julie Ertz, finished the 2018 regular season fourth in the nine-team NWSL standings with a 9-5-10 record before being eliminated in the playoff semifinals.

The Red Stars begin preseason practice on March 4 in Chicago. Despite being drafted, Sanchez still has to survive the final roster cut, which is on a date yet to be determined by the NWSL. Chicago’s first match will be on the weekend of April 13-14, though its schedule has not been announced.

“I’m just really excited that everything paid off, and I have this opportunity,” Sanchez said. “This is my goal. This is my childhood dream, so of course I’m just going to keep working on it and hopefully do well.”

The city of Chicago is in stark contrast to Sanchez’s hometown of American Falls, which has a population of 4,280 people and houses a 3A high school athletic program.

Sanchez had her No. 17 jersey retired at American Falls High after scoring 178 career goals at the prep level, including 68 in her senior season in 2013. She gained national acclaim for her high school exploits, appearing in Sports’ Illustrated’s Faces in the Crowd.

Then Sanchez entered the world stage, playing for the Mexican National Team in the 2015 Women’s World Cup, where she did not start, but did see the field.

Sanchez also registered two successful seasons at Idaho State, where she ranks first all-time in points and goals per game. Sanchez played at ISU in 2014 and 2015.

After deciding to leave Idaho State to better prepare herself for professional soccer, Sanchez joined perennial power Santa Clara in 2017. In her two-year Broncos career, Santa Clara was 32-10-3 and made the NCAA tournament in both seasons.

“I didn’t have a lot of resources that all of the girls in the draft today had,” Sanchez said. “So it’s been quite the journey, but I hope to prove that no matter what we have, we can achieve anything as long as we work hard for it.”

We love this video 1000%@Maria17_7 found out she was heading to the @chiredstarsPR surrounded by her teammates at @SCUWomensSoccer. #NWSLdraft pic.twitter.com/yrUhHbulGm

— NWSL (@NWSL) January 11, 2019