Atlanta Beat roster slowly taking shape

Women’s Professional Soccer announced Monday that the Atlanta Beat signed both Keeley Dowling and undrafted free agent forward Katie Bethke (University of Minnesota), who recently trained with the U.S. U-23 Women’s National Team. These two signings now bring the Beat’s roster up to 12 players.

Of the 12 players on Atlanta’s current roster, only three (Lori Chalupny, Tina Ellertson, and Lauren Sesselmann) played for Atlanta last season. Sesselmann is the only one who played the entire season with Atlanta. Both Chalupny and Ellertson came to the team after the Saint Louis Athletica folded.

On Friday, Feb. 4, WPS announced that Atlanta signed Chalupny, Colleen Flanagan, Megan Jesolva, Kristina Larsen, Meghan Lenczyk, Carli Lloyd, Katherine Reynolds, Sesselmann, India Trotter, and Kylie Wright. Wright (UCLA) and Lenczyk (University of Virginia) were Atlanta’s only two picks in the 2011 WPS Draft. This offseason, the Beat also acquired Heather Mitts via trade with Philadelphia and signed free agent Cat Whitehill, who played with the Washington Freedom in 2009 and 2010. The Beat have yet to sign a keeper.