Collegiate soccer has long played a significant role in the women’s game, developing generations of players who have gone on to become top professionals, international stars, and influential coaches and executives. But as pro leagues evolve and the economics of the college game change, so too does its role in the wider ecosystem of the sport.

On Friday, the showpiece event of the college soccer season commences when Florida State faces Clemson (6 p.m. ET), and Brigham Young faces Stanford (8:30 p.m. ET) in the 2023 Women’s College Cup in Cary, North Carolina. The final will be played on Monday (6 p.m. ET; all matches on ESPNU and ESPN+). But the NCAA tournament began with 64 teams ranging from long-established powerhouses of the game with well-stocked trophy cabinets to upstart programs at varying stages of contention. Over the coming weeks, The Athletic will tell the stories of several teams in each category, so stay tuned.

But first, we’re taking a look at the NCAA players who could soon make the leap to the NWSL through the league’s college draft. The draft will be held on Jan. 12 of next year and players don’t have to register for the draft until Jan. 8, so the draft pool is still very much up in the air. However, what follows is an early attempt at putting…

(Content warning: This story addresses suicide and other mental health issues and may be difficult to read and emotionally upsetting.
If you are in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.)

If Angelique Francis got out of bed, it was an accomplishment. Drinking a glass of water counted as another accomplishment. Step by step, inch by inch, Francis would figure out how to get through each day. These memories are eight years old now, but they still sear.

“It was not an easy process to be able to talk about my story,” says Francis, a senior forward for the Little Rock women’s basketball team. “But the feeling of being in a hole and having to crawl out of it, never expecting the light to shine ever again — I was dragging my feet just trying to wake up. I would pray and be like, please do not let me wake up tomorrow. … There’s no other way that I can explain how scary it was, having to fight but not wanting to.”

She found her purpose as she started to share what happened to her, the horrors of an abusive childhood and the suicidal thoughts that marred her middle and high school years. She now helps those who need help, in whatever way is necessary and for however…