[UPDATED 1/17/08: Final]

After watching over 75 live college soccer games this year, supplemented by another 25 on TV, composed of 84 different teams, here is my assessment of the seniors (and known Generation Adidas underclassman). My rankings take into account the values of GA, YI, SI, age and general assessment of the skill and how each player might fit into a MLS team. It’s possible that the YI and SI classifications may be eliminated.

Players that I haven’t seen are generally ranked lower than players that I have seen. I’m from the East coast – so it’s easier for me to see teams in the East. However, I’ve seen UCLA, UCSB, Washington, New Mexico, SMU live. I was unable to see Santa Clara (other than TV). If they would have beaten Notre Dame, I would have seen them play against Wake Forest. Some teams, I’ve only seen on TV (e.g., Tulsa, WV and Creighton). The combine will supplement my prior observations and fill the gaps where needed.

The ratings attempt to not only show my preferences but to demonstrate the various plateaus or levels. For example, three players rated 10, 11, and 12 are similar in skill and value while a player rated 50 would be a step down (in my assessment). This is essential, because a straight sequential numerical ranking would assume that each player is just a little worse than the previous player and this isn’t the case. The position rankings for goal keepers do not have a correlation with position rankings for other positions. Essentially, I rank each position individually. Then, after I feel comfortable with each position rankings, I’ll create an over-all ranking list.

This is a work-in-progress. While the college season is just about over, I will be tweaking the rankings through the combine.

I’m sure that I’ve missed a player. More likely, I’m sure that someone feels that I’ve unjustly ranked a player than deserved (especially if I haven’t seen the player). I’d like your feedback.

Below, I’ve broken out my rankings for goal keepers. I’ll follow this with rankings of defenders, midfielders, forwards and over-all.

Enjoy!

1 20 Yes Josh Lambo U17 X GA; U17; need to review tape before draft; ranking inflated because of GA benefits; after combine, not ready for 1st team play. He’s 17yo and doesn’t take roster/cap. I question his instincts.
2 34 Yes Jason Landers St. Johns Sr BigEast 3rd Team; .65 GAA (which is half of what his replacement was producing while he was injured) 8 GA, 81.8% S%; He was injured against Virginia Tech, but against MD in the spring, he really showed good shot blocking ability and mobility for getting down quickly. ; 2006 Big East GK of the year;
3 38 Yes Brian Edwards Wake Forest Sr ACC 1st Team; .48 GAA, 11 GA, 84.1% S%; He’s a good shot blocker and can move about the box adequately. He’s a tall keeper; best GAA amongst all senior goalkeeper .534; against UNC in ACC, “In OT, Brian Edwards almost gifted UNC a goal by making a poor goal kick that went right to sophomore Zach Loyd 35 yards from goal.”
4 43 TV Matt Allen Creighton Sr 2 time MVC 1st Team; 2 time MVC Defensive POTY; .79 GAA, 17 GA, 81.5% S%; 3 year starter;
5 100 Yes Billy Chiles Towson Sr AA 2nd Team; CAA 1st Team; 1.00 GAA, 22 GA, 83.3% S%; GAA is much higher than 2006 .33 – I have a little concern given 2007 stats, but he has always looked good to me.; Against ODU, “The jewel of this team is senior goal keeper Billy Chiles. He has quick feet, powerful punts and goal kicks. I like his hands. He makes athletic saves. My only reservation is the reason for his diving saves, because he either positions himself poorly (correctable) or he has slow reflexes (not correctable). I expect that he’ll shine at the combine and be taken in the 3rd/4th round.”;
6 105 TV James Thorpe Franklin-Pierce Sr D2 AA 1st Team; 4 Time All-Northeast10 GK of the year and 3 time all-american; .63 GAA, 15 GA, 78.6% S%; had 2 gaffes in the div II national championship, the first on a ck, the ball went through his hands to the far post (no goal); the second gaffe on a free kick, he misjudged a flighted free kick but it clanged off the post (no goal)
7 300 No Vito Higgins Gonzaga Sr WCC 2nd team; .70 GAA, 14 GA, 83.5% S%; Starter for 4 years.
8 301 Yes Justin Papadakis Duke Sr 1.12 GAA, 18 GA, 72.7% S%; Against SLU, Papadakis looked composed, controlling his box. Pro – ehhh; maybe. Tough breaking into MLS as a GK. He was benched later in the year because of poor distribution against Alabama A&M.
9 302 Yes Steve Sandbo SMU Sr CUSA 3rd Team; 1.00 GAA, 18 GA, 73.1% S%; earned the 3rd GK for the U20 team – was 1 injury away from playing, 0 minutes; against UCSB, “Sandbo played satisfactory. He controlled his area and caught the balls that he should catch. More than anything in this loss, his defense let him down – it would have been more impressive if he could have bailed out his defense. In the past, I haven’t been thrilled with his game, but he might be able to crack a MLS roster. I don’t see him as a #1 GK. I need to watch him more this week-end.”; against Washington, “Sandbo can’t be blamed for either goal. I like his hands and his foot work. The MLS combine will be critical for him. I don’t expect that he’ll be taken until 3rd or 4th round. It’s conceivable that he isn’t drafted until perhaps the supplemental draft.”; against KY (TV), “made a few nice snags – but wasn’t overly busy. Just didn’t make any crucial stops on tough plays. His team lost because of this while the other team won because of the superiority of the other goalie.”;
10 400 Yes Mike Graczyk New Mexico Sr MPSF 2nd Team; 2007 .71 GAA, 14 GA 75.4% S%; 2006 MPSF 1st team – .64 GAA; 2005 MPSF 2nd – .64 GAA; after watching two NM games – I didn’t comment on Graczyk; I’ll need to observe him at combine.
11 410 Yes Conrad Taylor Penn State Sr 1.42 GAA, 29 GA, 69.5% S%; A down year for the former 2 time Big10 1st teamer; His career GAA increase .1 in 1 year from .98 to 1.08 after posting a 1.42 GAA in 2007; This might be more indicative of injuries in the defense, but a down year. Consistent performer that started since his freshman year.
12 412 TV Dominic Cervi Tulsa Sr C-USA 1st team; 1.11 GAA, 21 GA, 79.4% S%; against VT (TV), “disaster – doesn’t cover the near post on the first goal, bad decision coming out that Nyarko is able to flick over his head (but wide), drops a ball through his hands in 2nd half, questionable decision to attack play – out of position, Nason doesn’t make him pay, over-all disappointing”; against FIU (TV-CUSA), “bad decision making, not punished; poor reaction on 35 yard shot for FIU 1st goal; bad positioning to allow the 2nd FIU goal to go over his head (he’s 6′6″); made a crucial save at the end to preserve the win”; against USC, “made a great play coming 35 yards off the line to stop a break-away. Also, was beaten by a breakaway and was lucky that the shot went just wide.” ; Just not impressed with his play.
13 413 TV Joey Kuterbach Bucknell Sr Patriot 1st team; Patriot GK of the year; .76 GAA, 15 GA, 83.7% S%; against Lehigh (TV), “had several terrific saves to keep his team in the game when the score was still tight. Noticed that he doesn’t recover from the ground after initial block quick enough.”
14 414 Yes Mike Haynes Bradley Sr .85 GAA, 22 GA, 82.7% S%;Adequate shot stopper; don’t foresee having professional talent
15 418 Yes Andrew Kartunen Stanford Sr PAC10 Honorable Mention; .56 GAA, 5 GA, 83.3%; Only played 8 games, because of injury.
16 419 Yes Casey Latchem Ohio State Sr .69 GAA, 18 GA, 83.6% S%; In B10 tourney, with 3 shut-outs, won defensive player of the tournament. In B10 (Northwestern), “MOTM is Casey Latchem. He kept OSU in the game with countless point blank shots. His long punts were effective in giving his team a little breathing room. In each of these first two games, Latchem has had an unforced error on his goal kick. This needs to be cleaned up.” I question if he has sufficient athletic ability – not shot stopping but quickness off his line.; against UMass (NCAA), “he had another unforced error on his goal kick”
17 420 Yes Chris Cahill Notre Dame Sr Big East 2nd Team; .79 GAA, 17 GA, 81.5% S%; 2006 .77 GAA; 2005 .85; I don’t like the way that he controls his box; against UCLA, “Zaher floated a ball into the box that Cahill absolutely messed up. He let the ball slip through his hands and it landed onto the foot of Chance Myers. Myers volleyed it into the goal to tie the game and force OT. Zaher and Chance had repetitively done the same thing throughout the second half during the run of play without a response from ND.”; against Gtown, “Cahill was not tested until OT. He’s tall (6’6”). In OT, his weak goal kicks (not clearing his half) enabled Gtown to pin ND back into their half. Additionally, his punts aren’t very good either. In the 28th minute, a long cross by Gtown was handled by Cahill by waving at it frantically as it went over his head – similar to Nicky Rimando! I can’t see any MLS team drafting him, because there are better alternatives.”
18 501 No Charles Alamo UC-Riverside Sr BigWest 1st team; BigWest GK of the year; 1.03 GAA, 21 GA, 79% S%; 3rd year as starter; 2 other years had lackluster GAA;
19 504 No Corbin Waller College of Charleston Sr SoCon 1st team; .82 GAA, 15 GA, 84.2% S%;
20 505 Yes Bryan Amos Furman Sr 2nd Team SoCon; .56 GAA, 12 GA, 84.8% S%; In SoCon final made a pair of critical saves; Only saw in this 1 game, but doesn’t appear to have MLS GK skill; remarkable .584 GAA 12th in Div I – reflective of his defense? I think so
21 510 Yes Chris Sedlak American Sr 1.49 GAA,28 GA, 73.3% S%; My impression of Sedlak against Lehigh, “This can’t be the same senior goal keeper Chris Sedlak that was dropping shots in the spring. On Saturday, he was doing a Kasey Keller impression. He was virtually standing on his head. Sedlak stopped numerous 1v1 shots that kept Lehigh off the scoreboard.”
22 1000 Yes Eric Sciocchetti Richmond Sr A10 2nd Team; 1.17 GAA; 23 GA, 82.0% S% ; 2006 A10 Defensive POTY; 2006 was career year- .84 GAA, 14 GA; 2005 1.32 GAA, 24 Goals against, don’t even look at his freshman year. PASS
23 1003 No Brian Mason St. Mary’s Sr .86 GAA, 6 GA, 73.9% S%; only played 7 games in 2007; PASS
24 1005 No Brandt Youmans Longwood Sr Atlantic Soccer Conf 1st Team; .96 GAA, 19 GA, 74.7% S%;
25 1008 No Adam Hahn Harvard Sr 1.16 GAA; 21 GA, 73.8% S%; 2 year starter; better options
26 1100 No Matt Glaeser Hartford Sr AmerEast 1st Team; .97 GAA, 18 GA, 80.6% S%; 6′5″; transferred from James Madison; hasn’t started many games – 17 in 2007, 18 rest of college career
27 2000 No Lance Parker Missouri State Sr MVC 2nd team; 1.25 GAA, 26 GA, 83.7% S%;
28 2020 No Nate Lovitz Bowdoin Sr 1.06 GAA, 13 GA, 79.4% S%; div III, haven’t seen. Pretty short. ; Pass
29 2050 No Eric Geiger Yale Sr Ivy Honorable Mention; 1.20 GAA, 18 GA, 79.3% S%; Pass
30 8000 No Kyle Schroeder Western Kentucky Sr 1.45 GAA, 13 GA, 69.8% S%; part time keeper (9 games) – plays out on the field; didn’t get any minutes in 2006; PASS