Breakers Add Colombian WNT Striker Ortiz

Weeks after sending leading scorer Sydney Leroux to Seattle last month, the Boston Breakers added Colombian National Team striker Melissa Ortiz via discovery signing on Thursday.

Ortiz, 23, earned her first cap with Colombia in 2009, and has collected four goals in 10 appearances at the national team level. A native of West Palm Beach, Fla., she was a standout at Lynn University (Fla.), where she scored 44 goals and added 24 assists from 2008-2011. In 2011, she became the first player in program history to earn Sunshine State Conference Co-Player amd Offensive Player of the Year.

“She is a solid physical presence who can play in a number of attacking roles, just a pure attacking player, who I believe, under the tutelage of head coach Tom Durkin, will be a goal-scoring threat here in Boston,” Breakers general manager Lee Billiard said in a team release.

Ortiz recently starred in Iceland’s top flight for Reykjavik FC. She will not take up one of the club’s international roster spots due to her U.S. citizenship.

“I am very pleased we are bringing Melissa to Boston. I believe we have picked up a gem of a player,” Billiard said. “She’s young in age, but very experienced on the field due to her national team endeavors, and she’s someone with a good record of goal scoring.”

Per club and league policy, financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.