Lauren Odino – Draughon NISL’s Top Scoring Defender

Lauren Odino – Draughon NISL’s Top Scoring Defender

Memphis, Tennessee ( June 29th, 2022) – Lauren Odino – Draughon finished as the National Indoor Soccer League’s top scoring defender.  Odino – Draughon tallied 18 points off of a balanced 9 goal and 9 assist season effort, leading all defenders in scoring.

Odino – Draughon made a statement from the first game of the regular season, with a goal and 2 assists in the Americans 10-2 route of the Columbus Rapids on December 26th, 2021.  Lauren matched her opening-day 3 point night two more times during the season, both against the Fayetteville Fury.  Odino – Draughon followed the impressive 18 point regular season by scoring yet another goal against the Fury in the NISL Semifinal game.     

Odino- Draughon is an Iowa State alum and finding her way into the Memphis Americans roster by way of open tryouts.  “Lauren was special from day one.  She’s confident, aggressive, hardworking, and showed up everyday to try and make herself the best player she could possibly be,” Head Coach Corey Adamson says of Odino-Draughon.  “She was consistently one of the most dangerous players on the field offensively, and her offensive ability was only seconded by her 1v1 defending, understanding of our press, and her knack for making huge defensive plays in our own end.”  

“It’s an honor to be the league’s top scoring defender,” states Odino- Draughon.  “I was able to get involved offensively as much as I did because of my teammates.  Any time a defender, not just myself, made a run up [the field], someone always had our cover. We made sure to build that trust with our teammates that would be disciplined enough to get back on defense in time.”  That freedom and trust is what Lauren credits as the driving force behind the stellar numbers. 

ABOUT NATIONAL INDOOR SOCCER LEAGUE (NISL):

The National Indoor Soccer League, which has its league office in Georgia, was founded in January 2021 by a group of experienced sports team/league owners with over 40 years of ownership experience. The NISL has plans to grow the league nationally within the next three years and kicked off its inaugural season in December 2021. The league currently operates a Men's & Women's division with each market fielding both teams. For more information, go to nislpro.com.