2008 MLS Supplemental Draft

I’ll go way out on the limb and predict that some team will choose Xavier Balc. D’uh!

Here are the players that might make the biggest impact – some of these players will see significant playing time. Most of these players will not make it out of camp. I expect some teams will dip into the Division 2, Division 3 and NAIA.

Goal keepers (4).

1. Jason Landers (St. John’s University): He’s the best goal keeper in the entire draft (not just the supplemental draft). He suffered injuries earlier in the year. He’s a good shot blocker and at 6′7″ will cover the goal well.
2. Billy Chiles (Towson): Before his All-American season, I wrote about his exploits in 2006 and followed it up with observing his play against ODU in 2007. He’s in the U23 camp which might be a stretch for him at this point of his career.
3. James Thorpe (Franklin-Pierce): 3 time D2 All-American and 4 time All-Northeast10 GK. In the championship game, he was shaky and he’s pretty short. I’d invite him to camp to see how he can play. He’s worth a flyer.
4. Mike Haynes (Bradley): After reviewing 3 Bradley tapes over 3 years, his shot blocking is pretty good. Worth a shot.

Defenders (10)

1. Brandon Owens (UCLA): PAC10 Honorable Mention. Right back with good athleticism recovering from ACL. Speculative pick with high upside if he recovers fully
2. Charley Traylor (Indiana): Against OSU (in Big10 Final), right back Traylor was able to neutralize dangerous left midfielder Roger Espinoza in the first half. I really like Traylor’s crosses. I like his ball skills from the back.
3. Jeff Stepan (Saint John’s University): BigEast 2nd team. Scored 4 goals with 1 assist. Against Virginia Tech, playing right, he got SJU on the board from a Mike Mingione cross that Alex Paszek deflected to Stepan with 13 minutes remaining in the game. I like his athleticism.
4. Tim Jepson (Duke): ACC 2nd Team. Only played 10 games because of early season injury. Big, mobile central defender. Unsure if he can stay healthy nor can I ensure that he has sufficient speed to mark 1v1 or catch fast forwards.
5. Joe Donoho (Bradley): AA 3rd Team and All-MVC 1st team and MVC POTY. The central defender transferred from Rutgers. He suffered a very serious achilles injury. Donoho is a tall, player who can run well. He distributes the ball well and takes many of the Bradley set pieces. He plays a very deep sweeper position, while he has marked man-to-man when needed, I wonder if his achilles would hold up with the rigors of MLS. I talked to folks at Rutgers who mentioned that he was a good student and a hard worker and a generally kid. He could be a sleeper. He could be a bust. I don’t believe that he has sufficient speed to cover in the back without giving ground.
6. Hugh Cronin (NC State): played both central defense and defensive midfield, but he’ll need to play defense in the pros. Injured late in the year, missing the ACC tournament. While never a burner, I wonder if the foot is slowing him down. I’m not sure. He’s smart. I like him. He’s very savvy.
7. Andre Sherard (UNC): ACC 2nd team. He played central defense in college. Had a horrible combine. His passing was woeful – takes too long to strike the ball, easy to defend his clearance; wasn’t able to shut down anyone (out wide or centrally).
8. Stephen Reiner (PSU): One of my 7 hidden gems from the pre-season. Plays right back. He can make defensive stops. He has a good shot. He makes overlapping runs and frequently switches into the central midfield. I like him.
9. Gregory Folk (UCLA): PAC10 Honorable mention. He plays right back and he’s slight. It’s debatable the impact that he’ll have in pros. But he has good ball skills.
10. Spenser Allen (Maryland): A consistent over-achiever. He played DM in his freshman year, but lately has been playing wide defender. He has good leaping ability for his size; Hard kid to bet against, but I’m skeptical if he has MLS quality.

Midfielders (6)

1. Alex Yoshinaga (Notre Dame): Right midfielder. I like his passing and his head for the game. Against UCLA, Yoshinaga teamed up with Jack Traynor to cause havoc on the left side. Against Gtown, Yoshinaga is flexible playing central midfield, defense and outside midfielder. During this game, he worked effectively with right back, Ryan Miller. Yoshinaga is draft quality. He’s good on set pieces, though Lapira insisted that he take most of them.
2. Matthijs Marunaya (VCU): CAA 3rd Team. Attacking midfielder. He scored 2 goals and added 11 assists. 2005/2006 CAA 2nd Team. He set the VCU school record for assists topping such notable MLS players, Stephen Shirley and Gonzalo Segares; Maruanaya is very slick, with a top-notch first touch. He scored the first goal with a 35 yard free kick that was served into the box and wound up going in untouched on a stunned UMD GK Will Swaim.; against William and Mary, “Maruanaya is an imaginative play maker. His team-mates constrict his ability because they can’t see the runs that they need to make. He can hold the ball well and his passes are precise.
3. Daniel DeGeer (San Francisco): WCC 1st Team. Wide midfielder. He scored 3 goals and added 6 assists. I’m not sure why he didn’t start until senior year; Against Santa Clara, great engine, tremendous creator, passer, MOTM in a losing effort; impressed me;
4. Kevin Reiman (MSU): Big 10 2nd team. Right midfielder. He scored 1 goal and had 5 assists.In B10 (IU), His insertion into the line-up was a vast improvement on set pieces. Additionally, with his speed and quick turns, he’s able to mount successful attacks. He played at MD for 2 years, but left because Robbie Rogers was better (getting all the minutes).
5. Chris Cox (Hofstra): CAA 2nd team. Central midfielder. He scored 6 goals in 1 assists. 1st team CAA in 2005 and 2006; graduation of high-scoring team mate Michael Todd hurt Cox’s productivity; I saw him last year and was thoroughly impressed with his play; he passes well and he is difficult to knock off the ball;
6. Stephen Brust (Bradley): MVC 2nd team. He scored 5 goals and added 3 assists. He plays hard defense; not confident that he can make a MLS roster. However, he has desire which may make the difference. In 2006, he was playing defense. In 2007, he was playing central midfield. Runs well.

Forwards (12)

1. Xavier Balc (OSU): no comment needed. Slow, but the most technical player at the combine. In the right environment, he’ll make a difference. Needs to show more desire.
2. Saidi Isaac (Winthrop): Big South 1st Team; 2006 Big South POTY; He scored 12 goals with 5 assists. 2005/2006 BigSouth 1st Team. Against High Point (BigSouth tournament), Winthrop’s Sean Weron served the ball over the High Point defense onto senior forward Saidi Isaac’s head. He buried it from 6 yards. Isaac is very quick. His technical skills are exemplary. He reminds me of Patrick Nyarko. I’m very impressed. The third goal by Isaac was pure speed and skill in the 75th minute. He split 2 midfielders just on the High Point side of the half, accelerating as he encountered central defender Adam Hatem. Slowing down to lull Hatem into his trap, he sprang forward just as he got to the box, leaving Hatem behind him with the GK closing. He cut swiftly leaving just the open goal. Wow. Pass the kool-aid, I’ll imbibe.
3. Yannick Reyering (UVA): Not available until June because of injury. ACC 1st Team. 13g, 0a including 4pk. Tall, accurate shooter; against NC State (regular season), He is a steady influence up top amongst the chaos of UVA trying to find him a strike partner. He scored the second goal on a free kick from 28 yards out that went through the wall. Reyering is accurate passing with his head. He can play in MLS – I don’t think that he’ll be a star, but he definitely could be a contributor on the first team. Against UNC, Yannick Reyering scored a goal. However, his touch was absolutely atrocious!
4. Sven Meusch (VCU): CAA 2nd Team. A tall, strong skillful player. He scored 10 goals with 3 assists. Against UVA, Meusch shoots from anywhere. Against MD (exhibition), Meusch is polished. He’s a physical presence up front with energy and determination. Against William & Mary, the best offensive weapon was his long throw-ins. Beyond this weapon, Meusch has a powerful shot but was unable to find the target.
5. Kraig Chiles (San Diego State): PAC10 1st team scoring 8 goals with 4 assists.
6. Murphy Wiredu (Saint Peter’s): MAAC offensive POTY. MAAC 1st Team. He scored 14 goals and 4 assists. Against UVA, Wiredu is composed, laying the ball off to his trailing midfielders, leading his strike partner and getting it wide to the overlapping midfielders. He took 1 shot in the first half with his left foot. Wiredu wasn’t able to find open space to work. He was marked very closely by the UVA central defense tandem of Zola Short and Matt Poole. Unable to create his own shot.
7. Mkhokheli Dube (Coastal Carolina): BigSouth POTY. 2006 BigSouth 1st Team. He scored 11 goals and 5 assists. Transferred from NAIA (Lindsey Wilson).
8. Patrick Baxter (Cincinnati): He scored 4 goals and 4 assists. Against Depaul (BigEast), he has very good dribbling, passing, and defending skills. He plays more of a withdrawn forward trying to create for the top running senior forward Kenny Anaba. He’s a quality player that could be an asset. I’d be willing to risk a low pick for him.
9. Casey Ftorek (Middlebury): Division 3 All-American 1st Team; NESCAC 1st Team; 17 goals and 5 assists. Led his team to the Divison 3 championship.
10. Juan Gavaria (Saint Peter’s): MAAC 1st team. 2006 MAAC Offensive POTY. He scored 10 goals and 4 assists. Did not play against UVA in NCAA because of a red card.
11. Eric Anton (Colgate): Risky pick. I like his athleticism. Would need to play defense in MLS. He’s a project.
12. Anton Axelsson (Jacksonville): Atlantic Sun Conf 1st Team. He has shown an ability to score (though in a weak conference). 16 goals and 4 assists in 2007; 8 goals in 2006; 9 goals in 2005.

 

Post Draft Player Analysis: Tony Schmitz

I hate being surprised.

I expect players in division II, division III and NAIA schools to fly under my radar, because there’s no way that I can sufficiently cover the players in these schools. While I will periodically take a look at a player (such as Kai Kasiguran and Andrew Wheeler) if it fits in my schedule, for now, I must concentrate on division I players.

There were a few division I players that were chosen in the 2008 MLS Superdraft that I did not rank remotely as high as they were selected. For example, Matt Marquess from Santa Clara and Tony Schmitz from Creighton University were both surprises to be selected on the first day. Should they have been? I watched a tape of Santa Clara with Marquess last month in preparation of the combine. I was concentrating on Roberts (who wasn’t invited to the combine), Hatzke and Lowry. But Marquess didn’t do anything that significantly impressed me during this game. I hadn’t reviewed Creighton game tapes recently, so I decided to concentrate my efforts on Tony Schmitz to answer the following question:

Did DC United make a good decision taking Tony Schmitz with the 53rd pick of the 2008 MLS draft?

As a side note, Brennan Tennelle isn’t a surprise for me since I watched him live several times. I expected that he would be picked by the 5th round.

Tony Schmitz is a 2007 MVC 1st team member. He scored 4 goals with 5 assists in 20 games in 2007. He was a starter in 2006 but scored only 1 goal with 3 assists. In his sophomore year, he was a consistent starter scoring 1 goal with 5 assists.

With 14 teams in the 2008 superdraft, comparing the 4th round from earlier years don’t align directly, for example in 2004 with only 10 teams, the 5th round is closer to the pick selection then the 4th. In the last several years, there has been one player in that area of the draft that has had some success. For example, Adam Cristman would be this candidate in 2007 as would Jonathan Bernstein in 2006. So this leads to the next questions:

Is Schmitz this candidate for success in 2008?

If Schmitz wasn’t the best pick, who would have been the alternative?

I reviewed 4 tapes of Creighton games from the 2006 and 2007 seasons. Below are my impressions of Schmitz’s performance. I will be concentrating on Schmitz, but others who may stand out – I’ll comment on, too.

Game 1

Yale at Creighton on 9/17/2006

Schmitz played a wide midfield/right sided defensive midfield. Creighton switched after 20 minutes in the first half from a 4-4-2 to a 4-3-3.

He didn’t do much in the first half, subbed after 30 minutes.

In the second half, he came in after 15 minutes and the only thing that he did was a left footed shot from 30 yards that was wide left.

The odd thing that I noticed is that Schmitz jumps into a defensive position rather than just assuming a defensive position.

A defensive position is the position for any sport (tennis, basketball, baseball, football linebackers) to best be prepared to move in multiple directions based upon reactions. It can be characterized by bent knees, chest forward, head up with arms out for balance.

Schmitz would take a little jump when he did this. It’d be something that professionals would be able to capitalize on. FYI-in later games, this deficiency was corrected.

2nd Game

Creighton at Bradley 2006 MVC final on 11/5/2006

In this game, Schmitz played right back in a 4-4-2 initially. When Creighton was behind with 20 minutes remaining, he pushed forward in central midfielder role to aid in the attack.

He was able to stay even with speedy Bradley forward Chris Cutshaw. This was impressive. If he has this speed, this could be an important fact.

He was good on the ball and much more involved than in the first game.

He was able to defend a Bradley corner kick by elevating in the box.

With seconds remaining and Creighton down, a long cross was sent to the far post. Schmitz’s shot was blocked but the rebound went to nearby Dacy who scored with 4 seconds remaining. Schmitz got an assist on the play.

As an aside, Bradley’s Brust looked pretty good in the back.

3rd Game

Bradley at Creighton on 10/10/2007

He played a much bigger role in his senior season. He started as a withdrawn forward in a 4-3-3 alignment. He was involved early providing searching through passes.

He was partially responsible for the 1st Bradley goal. He let his man (Bigelow – who had the assist) in the box too much space and then didn’t close on him. Compounded the error by not closing on the rebound, either. I noticed that he looks around rather than re-acting to action in the box.

He was active up front, displaying a good touch, a dribble to beat a defender and a then a terrific cross that his teammate was unable to convert.

Because of substitutions, he moved to defensive midfield late in the first half. Still, he was able to serve a great pass deep in the box with a few minutes left in the first half.

In the second half, he continued to man the defensive midfield. He supported the attack by taking a shot in the 53rd minute with his right foot. In a previous game, he took a 30 yard shot with his left foot. Willing to shoot with power with both feet – nice.

In the 64th minute, he took off from midfield making a deep supporting run getting away from Bradley’s Garcia. When he got the ball, he took one dribble before delivering his shot from inside the box. His goal was sent into the lower far post side netting. Directly before this goal, a miscommunication between Creighton’s Shuler and GK Allen almost ended for a goal for Bradley’s Bigelow but wound up starting the Creighton transition.

Schmitz dribbled around Donoho and probably earned a PK. He beat Donoho again on the dribble getting a free kick outside the box.

He made another 50 yard run beating Bradley’s Degurian eventually being fouled outside the box. He was down for a long time, holding his hip. He returned 5 minutes later.

Bottom line: Very impressive game for Schmitz.

Game 4

Bradley at Creighton 2007 MVC tournament on 11/18/2007

This was a hard game to assess for several reasons. First, the first 7 minutes of the game were eliminated from the tape to fit into the 2 hour window. Second, it was a very bright day and it was difficult to see the blue numbers on the white Creighton uniforms. Finally, Creighton has several players of the same body type and height.

Today, Schmitz started as a withdrawn forward and then moved back to defensive midfield later in the first half.

He had a header on a free kick that was on-goal but was cleared off the line by Garcia.

After he moved to DM, he made a critical tackle in the box.

Again, he burned Degurian with a deep midfield run at the end of the half.

In the second half, when Shuler made exploratory runs forward, Schmitz covered his position. He built on this by making a tremendous precision pass and when his teammate didn’t control his well-weighted pass, he made the Bradley player suffer with a vicious tackle outside the Bradley box.

He was getting forward in this 0-0 game. He showed his balance in the box and using strength refused to be pushed off the ball. Schmitz crossed the ball between 3 Bradley players for Walters to make a one-touch shot that only with Bradley’s GK Haynes good reflexes kept the game scoreless.

Schmitz continued trying to score with a 35 yard shot.

He was not responsible for the late goal that gave Bradley the MVC championship. Brust continued to look promising.

Over-all assessment:

• Fast, strong with good balance
• Able to shoot with either foot
• Above-average passing
• Very versatile – has played right midfield, forward, defensive midfield, right back
• Probably doesn’t have the ability to play wide midfield as a long-term option
• Ability to score
• Played full games in his senior year
• Hard tackler
• Loses mark too easily, doesn’t close quick enough
• Needs to react quicker on defensive problems in his box

His best position is defensive midfield. He’ll need to learn to be a wide defender to have a better chance to see the field.

As a reminder, I had three questions to address.

1. Did DC United make a good decision taking Tony Schmitz with the 53rd pick of the 2008 MLS draft?
2. Is Schmitz this candidate for success in 2008?
3. If Schmitz wasn’t the best pick, who would have been the alternative?

I’ll start with the third question, “If Schmitz wasn’t the best pick, who would have been the alternative? “. I would have chosen central defender Rauwshan McKenzie from Michigan State University. Here was my draft assessment of him:

B10 1st team; 2g, 2a in 21/21 games; In Big 10 tournament (PSU), “central defender Rauwshan McKenzie is a MLS quality defender. His best attribute is his athletic ability. He’s a target in the air on set pieces. He’s a good 1v1 defender. He did have a poor clearance with his head in OT. My only question is his individual ball skills. Can he pass under pressure?”. In B10 (IU), “McKenzie was solid in the back. In the waning minutes of the game with MSU down, McKenzie went forward.”; after combine, wonderful in the middle – challenged wide; doesn’t cleanly settle ball quick enough;

McKenzie would be limited to playing in the central defense. His technical skills would need to improve. McKenzie’s a better defender than Schmitz, but Schmitz has better versatility.

For the second question, “Is Schmitz this candidate for success in 2008?“. I don’t think so, Roth is the most polished of the 4th round draftees.

I doubt that Schmitz will see much first time action unless DC United has numerous injuries. It’s possible that Schmitz may not come out of camp. However, I think that he will.

For the final question, “Did DC United make a good decision taking Tony Schmitz with the 53rd pick of the 2008 MLS draft?“

I think DCU made a good decision. I like McKenzie and his potential that he could be a central defender in the very near future. However, I see that with the limited roster size and a full schedule of games/tournaments for DCU, the versatility that Schmitz brings to the team is an asset.

After the draft, head coach Tom Soehn asked me my opinion. I responded, “horrible”. Well, that may not be accurate in retrospect. I’ll need to call Soehn and upgrade it to “disappointing”, because I still think that Ryan Cordeiro was a dopey pick.

 

MLS Draft Team by Team Analysis

Winners and losers. With any draft, there will be winners and losers. It’s remarkable that it seems that the winners and losers seem to be consistent every year.

Very Successful (Grade A-):

• New England continues to be the best at talent evaluation every year. After Nichols has successfully mined Wake Forest talent for years, he’s moved east on I-85 to Duke to draft three prospects (Videira, Germanese, Wadsworth). This draft is not without risk for New England. Their first pick, San Francisco defender Rob Valentino, is a former U23 that missed his entire senior year to an injury which made him eligible to be signed as a Generation Adidas (GA) prospect. Both Videira and Wadsworth were saddled with injuries this year, too. Will they recover to their pre-injury status? If so, great gamble.

Additionally, Videira has been rumored to be going over-seas. Germanese is the heir-apparent for Ralston. He is a very good player. Britner is not a bad pick-up at the end of the third, but there were better options on the board.

• San Jose had only 1 pick. With it, they got the best wide right midfielder, Shea Salinas. He has shown the ability to get around the corner with speed and exceptional dribbling ability. He has the ability to play in the first year. 1 pick, 1 good player.

Pretty good (Grade B+):

• FC Dallas was able to pick up 3 GA’s that could be the future of the FCD success. Avila (#19) was the steal of the GA pool. Lambo and Shea will be longer term projects probably not seeing time in 2008. The late picks were both solid, Jamil Roberts (#45) and Ben Nason (50). No wasted picks.

• Toronto FC draft fortune is based upon possibilities. If Lapira (#35) signs with MLS, they have the steal of the draft with a mid 3rd round selection. TFC started with a terrific pick with the best defender (Julius James #9) in the draft with a good value pick. The next couple of defensive picks (#10-Phelan and #30-Zaher) aren’t as good. Brian Edwards at #28 that was procured with a trade with LA is a stretch. The goal keepers in this draft pool are mediocre. Edwards may get some time, but only because TFC goalkeepers find a way to get hurt.

Some good, some bad (Grade B-):

• LA Galaxy made some very reasonable selections. Sean Franklin (#4) was the first non-GA and should be penciled into the starting line-up. He’s fantastic. Ely Allen (#21) was book-ended on both sides by horrific picks at #20 and #22 by an historically woeful team. Allen has professional potential. His passing and tactical skills suggest that he may play left midfield rather than forward.

Valentin (#29), McDonald (#46) and Hatze (#51) are middling picks. McDonald may have the speed to play in the back. He played DM at San Francisco in 2006 before moving to center back in 2007. Valentin has the international experience, but will be a turnstile for the faster MLS forwards and midfielders. Matt Allen (#34) is the 2nd best senior goal keeper.

• Chicago Fire were fortuitous that Nyarko (#7) fell into their laps. He has unique skills that will find him patrolling the left side. He’s going be a favorite target for Blanco. Peter Lowry (#26) was another steal with the best midfielder in the draft that was obtained late in the second round. Finally, Stephen King (#40) was a tremendous value pick that could provide depth as a wide defender.

Dominic Cervi (#12) is a reach for a first round goal keeper. If Chicago has to rely on Cervi in 2008, their prospects for a successful year are over. He makes too many mistakes. He was the best goal keeper at the combine, but that’s a myopic view.

Barnett (#38) and Washington (#54) are wasteful picks when better alternatives were available, such as Roth, Campbell, McKenzie (at #38) or Balc, Barlow, Landers, Meusch, Jepson or Traylor at #54.

Average – (Grade C):

• Houston Dynamo only had the last two picks in rounds 3 and round. While neither pick – Geoff Cameron (#42) or Jeremy Barlow (#56) – are bad picks. However, Roth would have been better at #42. All-in-all probably what Houston was hoping for at the beginning of the draft.

• NY Red Bull. If not for a horrific pick with Luke Sassano (#32), this would have been a successful draft. John Harkes may have been impactful for the NYRB draft. He prepared scouting reports when Virginia Tech hosted Cal in the NCAA tournament and the entire Big 10 tournament. Is it a coincidence that NY picked 2 Big 10 players and a Cal player? I doubt it. Perhaps, NY disregarded the sloppy play of Sassano at the combine. Brunner (#16) and Roth (#42) are both good picks with Roth perhaps valued 2 rounds earlier.

• Colorado made some mysterious moves. While O’Brien (#5) has good technical skills, he isn’t a different maker and plays smaller than he is. He’ll need help to play DM because he isn’t a hard tackler. At UCSB, Tennelle would do the dirty work.

Grazier (#47) and Campbell (#49) are much better picks. Is it strange that Colorado selected 3 central midfielders? I think so.

Chevannes (#36) is a good pick. While he was terrible at the combine, I’ve seen him play much better and I expect that he has a chance to be good.

More bad than good (Grade C-):

• Kansas City Wizards. With a host of picks, KC was able to make some questionable choices, Myers (#1) is questionable when Franklin is better wide right and James is better centrally. The only difference is Myers is GA. If he makes significant impact, then he’ll lose his GA in 2009. If he doesn’t make impact and retains his GA, is this choice good, then? I don’t think it is.

Espinoza (#11-GA) is very raw. I love his quickness and dribbling ability in the Big 10 tournament and NCAA. However, he doesn’t understand the game sufficiently. He’ll need a very limited role that is well defined. Onalfo may be able to teach him how to play.

I like Yomby William a lot. I thought that I was his biggest advocate, but Onalfo may like him even more to take him with the 23rd pick! William has reported that he’s only 23, but I have 3 years of ODU media guides that dispute this fact. Why hasn’t William made this correction before? Until I see his driving license, I’m unconvinced.

Matt Marquess (#39) was a horrible pick with his Santa Clara team mate and WCC Defensive Player of the Year still on the board. This pick baffles me.

Leathers (#25) and McKenzie (#53) are both terrific value picks. These picks are what saved KC from a lower grade. Leathers and McKenzi’s speed and defensive positioning will be good. It may take both of these time to make the first team.

Pretty bad (Grade D):

• DC United continues not capitalizing on their opportunities in the draft. Players unexpectedly are available and they don’t react. Andrew Jacobson (#24) doesn’t address any primary needs (defense and wide midfielders). He’s a tall 2-way midfielder. He’s used to playing centrally in a flat midfield. He’s got a cannon of a shot. While I can understand drafting the best player available strategy, when players of equal impact were available, this strategy is ill-conceived. For example, Leathers would help in the back, Lowry is a better midfielder (though he’s shorter), Germanese would be ideal wide. Jacobson isn’t a bad pick, just others could be better. In the past few years, DCU has not made the optimal pick. Last year, they chose Arguez instead of Findley. In 2006, they chose Moose with Sturgis on the board. In 2005, Nick Van Sicklin was selected instead of Segares. It’s frustrating for DCU fans.

Cordeiro (#33) is a disaster pick. He’s my 2nd lowest ranked player from the combine – only Sipos with his 2 own-goals was ranked lower. His play at the combine was atrocious. My assessment is not restricted to the combine, because I also saw him play against South Florida (NCAA) and Virginia Tech (NCAA). If DCU wanted to waste the pick, choose Lapira, King, Roth, Chevannes, or Isaac. DCU fans can come see him on Sunday mornings at the reserve games (if he makes it out of camp).

Tony Schmitz (#52) is kind of hard for me to dispute since after watching Creighton several times, I can’t recall his play. I’ll rewatch a few games over the next few days. However, McKenzie was sitting there in the fourth round. He would have made a good addition in the back that was not improved in this draft.

• Real Salt Lake – new regime; same baffling moves. Beltran (#3) is a head scratcher. At the combine, I was told that RSL would be looking for an established player that could help immediately. Beltran? His passing at the U20 (which I attended) and the Indiana U tournament is consistently inaccurate.

Horst (#14) is a steady defender that if matched with a speedy central defender will be fine. But why make this pick when Brunner is available or better yet Salinas/Avila?

Nimo (#17) while not counting against the cap or roster is nowhere near ready. He’s the worst of the U17 to come out. I’d be surprised to see him again.

Tennelle (#37) is a good player that is fast and tackles very hard.

Huh? Are you kidding me? (Grade D-):

• Columbus Crew – continues to puzzle. Their first round pick Iro (#6) has stated that he may go to Europe if he’s drafted to a city that he doesn’t like. I guess Sigi must consider Columbus the garden spot of the midwest. With Nyarko and James on the board, this is a potential disaster. Columbus could wind up with no one from this slot.

The next two selections are evening more puzzling (disappointing to Columbus fans). George Josten (#20) and Ricardo Pierre-Louis (#22) are both horrible picks. Josten while winning the “prestigious golden flip-flops” for scoring the most goals at the combine can’t create his own shot and is too slow up top. I can’t see him playing in MLS. Pierre-Louis is a bigger project. While he has size and speed, he lacks basic soccer skills. He would require several years before he’ll be consistently productive.

Ryan Miller (#31) is a fast wide right midfielder who pretends to play right back but is often caught out of position. At the 31 pick, he’s not a bad selection and might provide coverage for Hejduk.

Steven Lenhart (#48) from NAIA champion Azusa Pacific is an egotistical selection. He would have been available in the supplemental draft. Instead Sigi strokes his own ego and show the rest of the league that he’s so smart. Campbell or McKenzie would have been a better pick. Why not even take local player, Xavier Balc?

• Chivas USA had one pick. How can you mess up with just one pick? Chivas found a way to do it. Keith Savage (#43) is an athletic player but was a huge disappointment at the draft. He doesn’t have the skill to play forward. It’s possible that he’ll play outside midfield or defense. But, I doubt that he’ll be able to do it. Roth was on the board and so was Balc (who some have compared to Preki), just a bad pick.

 

2008 Draft Day: No timeouts

There are no time-outs in soccer! Let’s eliminate them from the draft as well.

I’m leaving now. Next time that I post should be on the draft floor.

 

2008 MLS Final Draft Rankings!

I’ve consolidated, ruminated and re-investigated my 2008 MLS rankings. Here are the links to the final rankings.

Click here for —> Overall

Positional rankings:

Click here for —> Goal keepers

Click here for —> Defenders

Click here for —> Midfielders

Click here for —> Forwards

 

Updated rankings

I’ve updated the rankings including integrating the GA players. The South American players are displayed but I’ll reset them after observing them at the combine.

 

2008 MLS Draft: Overall Rankings

[UPDATED: 1/17/08: Final]

Here are the over all rankings for the 2008 MLS draft. I expect considerable revisions (tweaking) as I continuously review tape, watch combine and review my rankings over the next few weeks.

I’ve received this question several times, “What is the Pos ranking”?

Pos ranking and Over all ranking indicates the level or plateau. For example, midfielder David Roth is ranked 5 and defender Andre Sherard is ranked 6 (see below). If a team needs a defender than it might make sense to take Sherard even if I have Roth nominally ranked higher. However, it would be a step down to take Balc because he’s ranked 14.

The gaps show the amount of difference (i.e., a small gap – small level change).

I added Seq to show the sequential list of the rankings. (I’ll be adding this to the Position rankings as I review those).

I hope this explanation helps.

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.

Seq	Over all Rank	See in 07?	Pos	Name	College	Yr	Pos Rank
1	1	Yes	F	Patrick Nyarko	Virginia Tech	Jr	1
2	2	Yes	D	Julius James	UConn	Sr	5
3	3	Yes	F	Joseph Lapira	Notre Dame	Sr	5
4	8	TV	M	Peter Lowry	Santa Clara	Sr	5
5	9	Yes	M	Jonathan Sabbatini	Uruguay	X	6
6	10	TV	M	Brek Shea	U17	X	7
7	11	Yes	D	Sean Franklin	Cal State Northridge	Sr	14
8	12	Yes	F	Xavier Balc	Ohio State	Sr	20
9	16	Yes	D	Jon Leathers	Furman	Sr	18
10	19	Yes	D	Eric Brunner	Ohio State	Sr	20
11	23	Yes	D	Chance Myers	UCLA	So	22
12	29	Yes	F	Saidi Isaac	Winthrop	Sr	25
13	31	Yes	M	Eric Avila	UCSB	Jr	14
14	32	No	D	Rob Valentino	San Francisco	Sr	45
15	35	Yes	M	Andrew Jacobson	California	Sr	15
16	36	Yes	D	Rauwshan McKenzie	Michigan State	Sr	48
17	38	Yes	M	David Roth	Northwestern	Sr	16
18	45	Yes	D	Adrian Chevannes	SMU	Sr	50
19	48	Yes	M	Ciarnan O’brien	UCSB	So	18
20	49	Yes	M	Shea Salinas	Furman	Sr	80
21	50	Yes	M	Joe Germanese	Duke	Sr	84
22	51	Yes	D	Ryan Miller	Notre Dame	Sr	52
23	52	Yes	M	Stephen King	Maryland	Sr	86
24	53	Yes	D	David Horst	Old Dominion	Sr	57
25	54	Yes	M	Michael Videira	Duke	Sr	88
26	55	Yes	D	Andy Iro	UCSB	Sr	58
27	58	Yes	F	Ely Allen	Washington	Sr	27
28	59	Yes	D	Matt Britner	Brown	Sr	96
29	60	Yes	D	Tony Beltran	UCLA	Jr	98
30	61	TV	D	Jamil Roberts	Santa Clara	Sr	100
31	62	Yes	D	Michael Zaher	UCLA	Sr	104
32	64	Yes	M	Alex Yoshinaga	Notre Dame	Sr	102
33	65	Yes	D	Brandon Owens	UCLA	Sr	105
34	66	Yes	D	Pat Phelan	Wake Forest	Sr	145
35	67	Yes	M	Jeremy Barlow	UVA	Sr	104
36	68	Yes	GK	Josh Lambo	U17	X	20
37	69	Yes	F	Yannick Reyering	UVA	Jr	101
38	70	Yes	D	Scott Bolkan	Stanford	Sr	149
39	71	Yes	D	Tim Jepson	Duke	Sr	150
40	72	TV	M	Alex Nimo	U17	X	105
41	74	Yes	D	Joe Donoho	Bradley	Sr	152
42	75	Yes	D	Andre Sherard	UNC	Sr	153
43	76	Yes	D	Charles Traylor	Indiana	Sr	154
44	81	Yes	M	Matthijs Marunaya	VCU	Sr	115
45	83	Yes	F	Sven Meusch	VCU	Sr	108
46	90	Yes	F	Ryan Maduro	Providence	Sr	115
47	91	Yes	F	Lukasz Tumicz	Rhode Island	Sr	120
48	105	Yes	GK	Jason Landers	St. Johns	Sr	34
49	106	Yes	GK	Brian Edwards	Wake Forest	Sr	38
50	149	Yes	M	Ben Nason	Virginia Tech	Sr	203
51	150	Yes	M	Scott Campbell	UNC	Jr	204
52	151	Yes	M	Roger Espinoza	Ohio State	Jr	205
53	152	No	M	Brock Trejo	BYU	Sr	206
54	154	TV	M	Dan Stratford	West Virginia	Sr	207
55	155	Yes	F	Kenzo Webster	Michigan State	Sr	200
56	156	Yes	M	Pat Healey	Towson	Sr	208
57	157	Yes	M	Geoffrey Cameron	Rhode Island	Sr	209
58	161	Yes	M	Kevin Reiman	Michigan State	Sr	210
59	162	Yes	D	Hugh Cronin	NC State	Sr	201
60	165	Yes	M	Cesar Zambrano	UIC	Sr	211
61	167	Yes	D	Yomby William	Old Dominion	Sr	207
62	168	Yes	D	Julian Valentin	Wake Forest	Sr	209
63	169	Yes	M	Ernesto Di Laudo	NC State	Sr	212
64	171	No	M	Vangel Nacovski	IUPUI	Sr	214
65	201	Yes	F	Kevin Davies	Brown	Sr	207
66	202	Yes	D	Cameron Lewis	UNC	Sr	210
67	203	Yes	D	Stephen Reiner	Penn State	Sr	211
68	204	Yes	F	Kurt Martin	Notre Dame	Sr	208
69	205	No	D	Iradj Farahmand II	Loyola (Chi)	Sr	212
70	210	No	F	Juan Gavaria	St. Peter’s	Sr	210
71	213	No	F	Kraig Chiles	San Diego State	Sr	500
72	214	Yes	F	Murphy Wiredu	St. Peter’s	Sr	501
73	215	TV	M	Daniel DeGeer	San Francisco	Sr	500
74	218	TV	GK	Matt Allen	Creighton	Sr	43
75	220	No	F	Mkhokheli Dube	Coastal Carolina	Sr	503
76	221	Yes	F	Patrick Baxter	Cinncinati	Sr	504
77	222	Yes	D	Mark Buchholz	Clemson	Sr	406
78	226	TV	D	Brandon McDonald	San Francisco	Sr	408
79	250	TV	M	Eric Burkholder	Tulsa	Sr	504
80	280	Yes	M	Pavle Dundjer	UIC	Sr	511
81	300	No	F	Casey Ftorek	Middlebury	Sr	505
82	301	No	M	Chris Cox	Hofstra	Sr	513
83	302	Yes	M	Chris Tierney	UVA	Sr	514
84	303	Yes	M	Brennan Tennelle	UCSB	Sr	515
85	305	Yes	M	Brian Grazier	St. Louis	Sr	516
86	306	Yes	M	Ben Shuleva	SMU	Sr	517
87	307	Yes	M	Simon Schoendorf	South Florida	Sr	518
88	308	Yes	F	Victor Diaz	Wisconsin	Sr	506
89	309	Yes	F	Javier Ayala-Hill	California	Sr	508
90	310	Yes	F	George Josten	Gonzaga	Sr	509
91	311	Yes	F	Ricardo Pierre-Louis	Lee	Sr	510
92	312	TV	F	Eric Anton	Colgate	Sr	511
93	320	No	M	Kyle McHugh	Princeton	Sr	519
94	350	No	D	Karl Schilling	UConn	Sr	500
95	485	Yes	F	Sherron Manswell	Boston College	Sr	516
96	488	Yes	F	Maximiliano Damiano	Argentina	X	518
97	490	Yes	M	Diego Barrera	New Mexico	Sr	2000
98	495	No	D	Adam Chavez	Binghamton	Sr	508
99	498	Yes	D	Lucas Fernandez	Argentina	X	510
100	502	Yes	F	Kevin Forrest	Washington	Sr	520
101	503	Yes	D	John Gilkerson	Winthrop	Sr	519
102	504	Yes	D	Jeff Stepan	St. Johns	Sr	520
103	505	No	F	Jacek Przednowek	Robert Morris	Sr	522
104	506	Yes	F	Kai Kasiguran	Messiah	Sr	525
105	507	Yes	F	El Hadj Cisse	NC State	Sr	528
106	508	No	F	Greg Kilkenny	Northeastern	Sr	530
107	509	Yes	F	Andrew Wheeler	York College	Sr	801
108	510	No	F	Brett Paschall	Elon	Sr	802
109	511	Yes	M	Tomek Charowski	Duke	Sr	2001
110	512	Yes	M	Luke Sassano	California	Sr	2002
111	513	No	M	Brian Kuritzky	Cornell	Sr	2005
112	514	Yes	M	Dane Murphy	UVA	Sr	2010
113	515	No	D	Steve Bode	Wisconsin – Milwaukee	Sr	522
114	517	Yes	D	Tom Skara	Fairfield	Sr	524
115	518	No	D	Yahaya Musa	Stony Brook	Sr	525
116	520	Yes	GK	Billy Chiles	Towson	Sr	100
117	525	TV	GK	James Thorpe	Franklin-Pierce	Sr	105
118	531	No	F	Anton Axelsson	Jacksonville	Sr	805
119	532	No	F	Nick Figueiredo	Bowdoin	Sr	806
120	533	No	F	Matt Hoff	Harvard	Sr	807
121	541	No	D	K.J. Lenehan	Cal Poly	Sr	531
122	542	No	D	Ale Frischeisen	Dartmouth	Sr	532
123	543	Yes	D	Gregory Folk	UCLA	Sr	533
124	545	No	F	Tanner Wolfe	Stetson	Sr	810
125	550	No	F	Ismael Ibarra	San Jose	Sr	815
126	551	No	D	Josh Howard	William Jewell	Sr	535
127	552	No	D	Adam Sloustcher	Loyola Marymount	Sr	540
128	800	No	D	Paul Cain	UC-Davis	Sr	700
129	802	Yes	F	Adrian Bumbut	Liberty	Sr	1005
130	805	No	GK	Vito Higgins	Gonzaga	Sr	300
131	806	Yes	GK	Justin Papadakis	Duke	Sr	301
132	808	Yes	GK	Steve Sandbo	SMU	Sr	302
133	815	Yes	F	Kenny Anaba	Cinncinati	Sr	1010
134	820	Yes	D	Matt Williams	UVA	Sr	703
135	823	Yes	D	Mike Gelatt	Liberty	Sr	704
136	825	Yes	D	Spencer Allen	Maryland	Sr	705
137	828	TV	D	Joe Mellott	Bucknell	Sr	706
138	835	Yes	F	Davorin Husadzinovic	Radford	Sr	1012
139	838	TV	D	Matt Hatzke	Santa Clara	Sr	707
140	840	Yes	F	Pat Viray	VCU	Sr	1013
141	850	No	D	Brian Cocciolo	Jacksonville	Sr	708
142	860	No	D	Matt Tracy	Cal State Northridge	Sr	715
143	870	Yes	F	Abimbola Pedro	George Washington	Sr	1016
144	875	Yes	F	Sam Bailey	Fairfield	Sr	1017
145	880	No	F	Jared Britcher	Memphis	Sr	1019
146	890	Yes	F	Omar Alfonso	St. Johns	Sr	1024
147	892	Yes	F	Eliot Paschalis	Furman	Sr	1025
148	898	No	F	Cory Elenio	Evansville	Sr	1026
149	1000	Yes	GK	Mike Graczyk	New Mexico	Sr	400
150	1010	Yes	GK	Conrad Taylor	Penn State	Sr	410
151	1020	Yes	F	Paul Dudley	Duke	Sr	3000
152	1025	No	F	Richard Godfrey	Gardner-Webb	Sr	3001
153	1030	Yes	F	Adam Sternberger	Rutgers	Sr	3002
154	1035	No	D	Callum Bissett	Rhode Island	Sr	1050
155	1040	TV	GK	Dominic Cervi	Tulsa	Sr	412
156	1050	Yes	D	Brandon Gasparovic	St. Louis	Sr	1055
157	1055	No	F	Vicente Arze	Mercer	Sr	3003
158	1058	Yes	F	Keith Savage	West Florida	Sr	3004
159	1060	No	F	Dan Shapiro	Stanford	Sr	3005
160	1070	No	D	Brian Beckford	Oral Roberts	Sr	1059
161	1075	Yes	D	Phillippe Bissohong	UMBC	Sr	1060
162	1080	Yes	D	Michael Hessemer	Lehigh	Sr	1061
163	1090	No	F	Sean Sassano	Appalachian St	Sr	3007
164	1100	Yes	F	Tino Nunez	UCSB	Sr	3010
165	1110	TV	F	Scott Hawkins	Lafayette	Sr	3011
166	1115	No	D	Michael Gavin	Portland	Sr	1062
167	1118	Yes	D	David Worthen	UNCG	Sr	1063
168	1120	Yes	D	Patrick Starsinic	Lehigh	Sr	1069
169	1130	Yes	F	Ben Page	Lipscomb	Sr	3015
170	1150	Yes	D	Bryan Moffa	UMBC	Sr	1070
171	1152	Yes	D	A.J. Kulp	Old Dominion	Sr	1074
172	1155	No	D	Phil Duret	Western Illinois	Sr	1075
173	1200	TV	GK	Joey Kuterbach	Bucknell	Sr	413
174	1210	Yes	F	Pablo Moreira	Akron	Sr	3016
175	1215	Yes	GK	Mike Haynes	Bradley	Sr	414
176	1218	Yes	GK	Andrew Kartunen	Stanford	Sr	418
177	1219	Yes	GK	Casey Latchem	Ohio State	Sr	419
178	1225	Yes	GK	Chris Cahill	Notre Dame	Sr	420
179	2000	No	D	Bryan Oelkers	Iona	Sr	2046
180	2005	Yes	M	Mick Galeski	Eastern Illinois	Sr	3000
181	2007	Yes	M	Ryan Cordeiro	UConn	Sr	3001
182	2010	Yes	M	Scott Spangler	Virginia Tech	Sr	3002
183	2015	Yes	D	Kenny Cook	Massachusetts	Sr	2051
184	2020	Yes	M	Drew DeGurian	Bradley	Sr	3003
185	2025	TV	M	Corey Curnutte	Bucknell	Sr	3004
186	2030	Yes	M	Derek Hobson	Pennsylvania	Sr	3005
187	2035	No	D	Luke Frieberg	Drake	Sr	2060
188	2040	No	D	Liam Welsh	Siena	Sr	2061
189	2045	TV	D	Dan Belke	Colgate	Sr	2067
190	2050	TV	M	Tony Schmitz	Creighton	Sr	3006
191	2055	No	M	Tom Gray	Monmouth	Sr	3008
192	2060	Yes	M	Marcus Reed	Virginia Tech	Sr	3010
193	2070	No	M	Kevin Van Den Berg	Coastal Carolina	Sr	3012
194	2075	No	M	Brett Gardner	Oregon State	Sr	3013
195	2080	No	GK	Charles Alamo	UC-Riverside	Sr	501
196	2090	No	GK	Corbin Waller	College of Charleston	Sr	504
197	2092	Yes	GK	Bryan Amos	Furman	Sr	505
198	2094	Yes	GK	Chris Sedlak	American	Sr	510
199	5000	No	D	Daniel Scott	Gonzaga	Sr	3000
200	5010	No	M	Danleigh Borman	Rhode Island	Sr	5000
201	5015	Yes	M	Franklin Elimbi	Radford	Sr	5001
202	5025	No	M	Dustin Awe	Evansville	Sr	5004
203	5030	Yes	M	Stephen Brust	Bradley	Sr	5006
204	5032	TV	M	Justin Wolf	Bucknell	Sr	5008
205	5035	No	M	McCoy Livingston	Appalachian St	Sr	5009
206	5050	No	F	Nick Webb	Oregon State	Sr	7001
207	5054	Yes	F	Spencer Wadsworth	Duke	Sr	7002
208	5055	No	M	Daniel Antunez	Hartford	Sr	5010
209	5060	No	F	Tom Oatley	Western Michigan	Sr	7003
210	5065	No	F	Ian McAuley	Evansville	Sr	7005
211	5075	No	M	Kevin Meyer	Fordham	Sr	5014
212	5077	No	M	Tannen Wels	San Diego	Sr	5015
213	5080	TV	F	Aaron Swanson	Kentucky	Sr	7010
214	5085	No	M	Ryan Zabinski	Robert Morris	Sr	5016
215	5088	No	M	Alex Elias	Middlebury	Sr	5017
216	5090	Yes	F	Blake Danaher	New Mexico	Sr	7011
217	5100	No	M	Keith Gorczyca	Drake	Sr	5019
218	5110	No	M	Travis MacKenzie	Duquesne	Sr	5020
219	5140	TV	F	Todd Goddard	Tulsa	Sr	7013
220	5150	No	F	Nicholas Lind	UC-Davis	Sr	7014
221	5160	No	F	Marcus McCarty	Northern Illinois	Sr	7015
222	5165	No	M	Josh Swett	Manhattan	Sr	5021
223	5170	No	M	Zeke Dombrowski	Wisconsin – Milwaukee	Sr	5022
224	5175	TV	M	Anthony Sepe	Lafayette	Sr	5023
225	6100	No	F	Emile Innocent	Howard	Sr	7016
226	6315	Yes	D	Greg Curry	UCSB	Sr	3075
227	6320	Yes	D	Zola Short	UVA	Sr	3080
228	6345	Yes	D	Kyle Grato	Rutgers	Sr	3081
229	6350	No	D	Bryan Maguire	St. Francis (Pa)	Sr	3082
230	6370	Yes	M	David Gualdarama	New Mexico	Sr	6000
231	6375	No	M	Matt Narode	Binghamton	Sr	6001
232	6380	Yes	M	Danilo Schiavon	Quinnipiac	Sr	6002
233	6383	Yes	M	Steve Kalan	Akron	Sr	6004
234	6385	No	D	Brad Peetoom	Syracuse	Sr	3090
235	6390	No	D	Panos Georgiadis	Vermont	Sr	3092
236	6395	Yes	D	Corey Sipos	Akron	Sr	3094
237	6400	No	D	Tom Heinbockel	Columbia	Sr	3096
238	6403	No	M	Adam Montgomery	Memphis	Sr	6005
239	6405	No	M	Chris Wey	IUPUI	Sr	6006
240	6409	Yes	D	Keith Vereb	Pennsylvania	Sr	3099
241	6410	No	D	Alex Christensen	Oregon State	Sr	4000
242	6416	Yes	M	Ian Schinelli	Belmont	Sr	6008
243	6417	Yes	M	Joey Vitagliano	New Mexico	Sr	6009
244	6418	No	M	Dawid Badecki	Rhode Island	Sr	6010
245	6420	No	D	Thomas Lobben	Dartmouth	Sr	4007
246	6450	Yes	D	D.J. McCurry	UNCG	Sr	4010
247	6455	No	M	Colin Jennings	San Diego	Sr	6011
248	6460	No	M	Ryan Imamura	Stanford	Sr	6012
249	6465	No	M	Keum Sung Kim	Loyola (Chi)	Sr	6013
250	6470	TV	M	Mike Tilley	Lafayette	Sr	6014
251	6475	No	M	Jason Laffin	Siena	Sr	6015
252	6480	TV	D	Luke Sullivan	Lafayette	Sr	4015
253	6495	No	M	Mahamadou Simpara	Stony Brook	Sr	6017
254	6500	No	D	Miles Alden-Dunn	College of Charleston	Sr	4020
255	6510	No	D	Patrick Roy	Hartford	Sr	4022
256	6518	No	D	Jarron Brooks	St. Francis (Pa)	Sr	4024
257	6520	No	M	Michael Millar	Monmouth	Sr	6018
258	6528	No	D	Andy Cooper	Missouri State	Sr	4025
259	6530	No	D	Bryce Luetzen	St. Francis (Pa)	Sr	4026
260	6545	Yes	D	Paul Caruso	Radford	Sr	4030
261	6550	No	M	Dustin Guerrero	San Diego	Sr	6020
262	6554	Yes	D	Elliot Bradbrook	Akron	Sr	4034
263	6555	TV	D	Brandon Foster	UC-Irvine	Sr	4036
264	6556	No	D	Kyle Lynch	Cornell	Sr	4037
265	6558	No	D	Michael Hutchison	Campbell	Sr	4038
266	7200	TV	M	Tim Bohnenkamp	Creighton	Sr	8000
267	7205	Yes	D	Camilo Correa	Loyola	Sr	7000
268	7210	Yes	M	Erik Ortega	Wisconsin	Sr	8002
269	7216	Yes	M	Scott Corbin	SMU	Sr	8005
270	7220	No	D	Michael Okoh	Howard	Sr	7004
271	7222	Yes	M	Ken Hickman	Bradley	Sr	8006
272	7224	No	F	Jeremy Ortiz	La Salle	Sr	8000
273	7225	No	D	Josh White	Missouri – Kansas City	Sr	7008
274	7229	No	M	Lati Ziba	Wisconsin – Green Bay	Sr	8007
275	7230	Yes	M	Callum Thomas	Richmond	Sr	8008
276	7235	No	F	Andrew Villalobos	UC-Riverside	Sr	8001
277	7241	No	M	Troy Simon	USC Upstate	Sr	8010
278	7242	No	D	Richard Perdomo	Mercer	Sr	7009
279	7245	No	D	Kyle Hency	Stanford	Sr	7010
280	7250	No	D	Steve Algozino	Northern Illinois	Sr	7014
281	7290	No	M	John Daniele	Marshall	Sr	8011
282	7298	No	F	Julio Gonzalez	San Jose	Sr	8005
283	7300	No	M	Pasquale Abuiso	Iona	Sr	8015
284	7315	No	M	Ryan Oakes	Portland	Sr	8022
285	7320	Yes	F	Chris Davis	Furman	Sr	8008
286	7340	No	M	Loren Hill	Vermont	Sr	8025
287	7344	No	M	Martin Castro	Wisconsin – Milwaukee	Sr	8026
288	7345	Yes	D	Phil Hartman	Richmond	Sr	7050
289	7346	No	F	Devon Klipp	Philadelphia	Sr	8010
290	7350	No	D	Mason Trafford	UNLV	Sr	7055
291	7353	No	M	Abiola Sandy	Bowling Green	Sr	8027
292	7357	No	M	Skyler Thuresson	Cal State Fullerton	Sr	8029
293	7400	Yes	GK	Eric Sciocchetti	Richmond	Sr	1000
294	7405	No	GK	Brian Mason	St. Mary’s	Sr	1003
295	7408	No	GK	Brandt Youmans	Longwood	Sr	1005
296	7410	No	GK	Adam Hahn	Harvard	Sr	1008
297	7415	No	M	Jordan Mault	George Mason	Sr	8040
298	7500	No	GK	Matt Glaeser	Hartford	Sr	1100
299	7535	Yes	D	Kyle Richards	Richmond	Sr	7075
300	7540	No	M	Diego Monsalve	Florida Atlantic	Sr	8050
301	7541	No	F	Curt Zastrow	Northern Illinois	Sr	8100
302	7600	No	GK	Lance Parker	Missouri State	Sr	2000
303	7610	No	D	Blake Gotkowski	Northern Illinois	Sr	7090
304	7620	No	GK	Nate Lovitz	Bowdoin	Sr	2020
305	7625	Yes	F	Alimer Gonzalez	Wake Forest	Sr	8120
306	7650	No	GK	Eric Geiger	Yale	Sr	2050
307	8000	No	GK	Kyle Schroeder	Western Kentucky	Sr	8000

 

2008 MLS Draft: Forward Rankings

[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. 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 forwards. I’ll follow this with over-all rankings. The number of games started versus the number of games played is written as “15/18 games” (15 games started of 18 games played).

I will be tweaking the forwards a lot more after reviewing numerous tapes.

Enjoy!

1	1	Yes	Patrick Nyarko	Virginia Tech	Jr	GA; AA 1st Team; ACC 1st Team; 7g, 10a in 19/22 games; from Ghana, Birthdate: 1/15/86; against SJU, “”Patrick Nyarko did not record a goal or an assist, but the night was not a failure for him. He was involved and provided probing runs and made 3 shots on goal (out of 3 shots). He looks healthy (which for me is the biggest concern). He looks quick. VT is playing him in a wide forward position. This should shield him from big hits with his back to goal and isolate him more in 1v1 situations. This is a good situation for him.”"; against UVA, “”I expect that Nyarko will play in MLS in 2008. He has tremendous skill. Since he’s 21 now, he’ll have a few years as a youth international. He’s worth taking. I do have a few concerns. He’s not able to complete games. His fitness is not 90 minutes quality. At the end of the game, he would not finish off-the-ball runs. But, this can be overcome with additional professional fitness conditioning. He has unique skills. He’s in my first round of the draft.”"; against MD, “”The second goal was a beautiful diagonal from George Zehender that Patrick Nyarko was able to gather behind the MD defense. From the top of the box, near the center of the field, Nyarko slotted the ball into the right lower corner in the the 65th minute. Moments, before Nyarko had a similar opportunity snuffed out by tremendous defense by A.J. Delagarza and Will Swaim.With time winding down and MD pressing forward, Nason scored his second goal and the VT third goal. Nyarko got the ball near midfield, drove down the sideline and split 2 defenders to hit Nason in stride. Nason cut in front of the GK and finished the 6 yard shot with ease.Nyarko showcased why I expect that he’ll come out early and be a first round draft pick. He’s quick and has tremendous technical skill.”" & “”VT still begins with Patrick Nyarko. He’s a talent that I’d pay to watch. He’s exciting and productive. Nyarko uses his dribbling and feints not to show boat but to break down the defense. He assisted in the goal by doing a step-over to beat left back Delagarza. He got to the end line and crossed the ball back to an open and waiting senior midfielder Georg Zehender. Zehender finished calmly. Nyarko will be taken in the first round.”"; against BC (ACC), “”Patrick Nyarko looked strong on the ball and was dangerous with the ball at his feet. He’s continues to be steady. I liked how strong he was on the ball and was difficult to knock off the ball. He picked BC R+Y123euben Ayarna’s pocket, beating another BC defender and delivering a good cross that Jamie Melas cleared out of danger for a VT corner kick.”"; against Cal (NCAA), “”On the first VT goal, Patrick Nyarko beat Andrew Jacobson outside the box, cut and beat another Cal defender, Tyler Berry. Nyarko unleashed a shot that was block. It fell to Ben Nason who side volleyed it with power into side netting in the 25th minute. VT extended their lead in the 56th minute on a Charlie Campbell goal. Just outside of the box, Nyarko headed the ball out to Bryan Collier, who dribbled the ball along the far side of the box. Collier squared the ball to an open Marcus Reed at the penalty spot who fed a pass to the near side to Campbell who hit it first time. The ball got under freshman goalkeeper Stefan Frei. A well struck shot that Frei should have stopped. The eventual game winner was Campbell’s second goal of the game in the 85th minute. While Campbell gets the credit for the goal. It was all Nyarko. Nyarko with a change of pace, he drove around Evan Sassano to get to the touch line. Nyarko centered a ball back to an open Campbell 10 yards from goal in the center of the penalty area. This time Frei had no chance. John Harkes was in attendance. If he wasn’t impressed with Nyarko, I have to question his sanity. Nyarko was absolutely impressive. He was quick, technically efficient. He might be able to be a MLS starter next year on the right team.”"; against UConn (NCAA), In the 22nd minute, a long VT goal kick resulted in the ball being touched by Robert Edmans past the CT defense. Nyarko drove toward goal. 25 yards from goal, he poked the ball past on-rushing goal keeper Josh Ford. It slowly dribbled through the box and off the post for the only score of the day. At the team meal last night, Nyarko was not feeling well. Today, the effect of this illness was apparent. While he did have moments, he didn’t have his endurance.”"; against WF (NCAA), “”Ike Opara contained All-American Patrick Nyarko making Nyarko flow toward the center where WF had defensive support.”" & “”VT success starts and ends with junior forward Patrick Nyarko. He’s a very dangerous player that was slowed down by an effective WF game plan and inspired play by freshman Ike Opara.”"; In preseason, “”In 2006, he scored 16 goals and added 8 assists. As a freshmen in 2005, he tallied 8 goals and 6 assists. Patrick has a problem staying healthy. I saw Patrick play early in 2006 against UMBC when he was coming back from injury. He was brought in to score a goal and then relegated back to the bench. He has exceptional speed and skill. At that time, Nyarko was gasping for air early in the 2nd half. He reminds me of Dom Oduro (FCD), but a little smaller and significantly more spindly. VT only scored when Nyarko was on the field. Against UMBC, his first goal was worth the price of admission. At 17:07 in the first half, he took a long pass on the near side, beat a defender with a good first touch, pulled the ball back, moving across the box, faking, driving (leaving defenders on the ground and in his wake), he finished with a sweet touch into the corner of the goal. Minutes later, he stole the ball from a bad pass from a UMBC defender, one move around the gk and calmly buried the ball into the net. The third goal, again, was because of Nyarko. He took a 40 yard pass, air dribbled over the goalie with his first touch, could have been a penalty, but Nyarko stayed up. He regained his balance and took the ball into the corner, leaving the GK trying to cut the angle. Nyarko calmly centered the ball to Vickers for the winning goal. In the ACC tournament, he was unable to lead VT past NCSU despite scoring 2 goals and adding an assist. He is a terror when on the field. The problem is getting him on the field – because of injury and/or fitness. In the spring of 2007, he’s out because of injury, again. He has a world of talent. I will be watching his minutes this year. If he can stay in shape and healthy, he’s a potential first round pick, even as youth international.”"; after combine, while he didn’t put his mark on the combine, he still showed the skills which lead him to the #1 draft pick.
2	5	Yes	Joseph Lapira	Notre Dame	Sr	AA 1st team; Big East 1st Team; 9g 10a in 19/23 games; 2006 Hermann Award winner; 2006 22g, 6a – big drop off; played with Irish National team; Creates his own shot; Against UCLA, “Lapira is a fast, hard-working forward. He is a step above the other players.”; Against Gtown, “He didn’t have his best game. His shots were off target. His service on the set pieces were unproductive. Interestingly, the best ND corner kick was made by Alex Yoshinaga – then he didn’t take another. No idea why? Lapira seems to have his confidence shaken. Compared to his Herman trophy season last year, this year has been disappointing.”
3	20	Yes	Xavier Balc	Ohio State	Sr	AA 1st team; 2 time B10 1st Team; 6g 13a in 23/23 games; In B10 (Michigan), “Balc did more than just score the goal. His passing was exquisite. At the end of the game, he provided a pass to junior Geoff Marsh that with a better touch should have ended the game at that time. In the end of the first half, Balc delivered a free kick to Doug Verhoff in the box that he headed off target. I’m glad that I get to watch Balc again tomorrow.”; In B10 (Northwestern), “Balc is the man. He’s money with the ball. He doesn’t work very hard on the defensive side. If someone comes by, he’ll pressure but he won’t pursue.” In B10 (IU), “Balc did not bring his “A” game today and OSU couldn’t score. Regardless, of today, he deserves the Big 10 Offensive player of the tournament. His set pieces were dangerous. I like his 35 yard shot in the first half that was just high. He’s a first rounder.”; ; against UMass, “In the first half, Balc took a shot with his right foot. No press release was issued. Balc is a smart player. What he lacks in speed of foot, he makes up for speed of thought.”; against WF (NCAA), “Xavier Balc just continues establishing why he’ll be a high draft pick. His first touch is deft. He reminds me of Jaime Moreno. He doesn’t play a frenetic game relying on athleticism instead he’s much more cerebral. His passing is spot on.”; after the combine, he’s the most technical player in the draft. He lacks speed and energy. I wonder if his technical ability can overcome this deficency in MLS. He best position (probably only) is withdrawn forward requiring an active and speedy forward partner.
4	25	Yes	Saidi Isaac	Winthrop	Sr	BigSouth 1st Team; 2006 BigSouth POTY; 12g, 5a; 2005&2006 BigSouth 1st Team; from Kenya no idea on his age; against High Point (BigSouth), ” Sean Weron served the ball over the High Point defense onto senior forward Saidi Isaac’s head. He buried it from 6 yards. Isaac is very quick. His technical skills are exemplary. He reminds me of Patrick Nyarko who might be the best player in the ACC. I’m very impressed. The only knock against him is that he’s from Kenya and the MLS limitation for international players. The third goal by Isaac was pure speed and skill in the 75th minute. He split 2 midfielders just on the High Point side of the half, accelerating as he encountered central defender Adam Hatem. Slowing down to lull Hatem into his trap, he sprang forward just as he got to the box, leaving Hatem behind him with the GK closing. He cut swiftly leaving just the open goal. Wow. Pass the kool-aid, I’ll imbibe.”;
5	27	Yes	Ely Allen	Washington	Sr	PAC10 POTY; PAC10 1st Team; 12g, 2a; against New Mexico, “Allen is quick and is tactically savvy. I expect that he might have a future as an outside midfielder at the next level. He takes chances – not only in a positive manner, but also doing what I’d consider ill-advised. For example, with Washington up 1-0, he kicked the ball away, ref allowed that – fine. Then, when the ref was running away (and not looking at the ball), Allen kicked the ball away again. No idea why that wasn’t a yellow. At the end of the first half, he tried to draw a penalty 2 times unsuccessfully. His passing is what makes him special.”; against SMU, “Allen could best be described as pesky. In the 30th minute, he split 2 SMU defenders with a chilling pass to Matt Van Houten that Van Houten shot right at the GK. Minutes later, he heeled it to a breaking Casey Cunningham in the box that was blocked by SMU Leone Cruz for a corner kick. Allen had a chippy moment in the 65th minute. He made a bad tackle on SMU captain Ben Shuleva that was called a foul that could have been a yellow. Of course, Shuleva and Dane Saintus felt the need to push Allen several times. The ref didn’t feel it necessary to admonish the SMU players.”; after the combine, Allen continued to show his ability to make the attack better. I see him as a viable left outside midfielder. moving up;
6	101	Yes	Yannick Reyering	UVA	Jr	ACC 1st Team; 13g, 0a including 4pk in 16 games; German; birthdate-7/10/84; had season-ending injury against MD in October; will he be ready for the combine?; Tall, accurate shooter; against NCST (regular season), “He is a steady influence up top amongst the chaos of UVA trying to find him a strike partner. He scored the second goal on a free kick from 28 yards out that went through the wall. Reyering is accurate passing with his head. He can play in MLS – I don’t think that he’ll be a star, but he definitely could be a contributor on the first team.”; against UNC, “Yannick Reyering scored a goal. However, his touch was absolutely atrocious!”;
7	108	Yes	Sven Meusch	VCU	Sr	CAA 2nd Team; 10g, 3a; From Germany – Birthdate not known. Originally listed as a freshman, now a senior on VCU site; against UVA (exhibition), “Meusch will shoot from anywhere. With just 30 minutes, he was an interesting player – deserves another look.”; against MD (exhibition), “Meusch is the most polished. He’s a physical presence up front with energy and determination.”; against William & Mary, “The best offensive weapon was freshman forward Sven Meusch’s long throw-ins. Beyond this weapon, Meusch has a powerful shot but was unable to find the target.”;
8	115	Yes	Ryan Maduro	Providence	Sr	Big East 1st Team; 5g, 6a in 19/19 games; 2006 All-American; Against Gtown, I was very interested in watching senior All-American Ryan Maduro. He plays a withdrawn forward. Maduro is adept at finding the open spaces in front of the defenders. While he had moments of brilliance, he wasn’t dominating the game. A couple of observations of Maduro: In the 5th minute against a much larger stronger player, Len Coleman, Maduro held him off the ball. Pretty impressive. Maduro doesn’t look that big. In the 32nd minute, Maduro had a 40 yard pass that just sat on the end line for Nick Cianci to cross through the box. Nothing came of it, but that wasn’t Maduro’s fault. One concern for me is that a helicopter took off during the 1st half and Maduro got treatment for what looked like to me for a bad back. I wonder if this is a chronic problem. In the 60th minute, Maduro tried to take the game over. Off a free kick, Hankard played a direct pass forward to an isolated Maduro in the box. Maduro was able to turn on the defender and produce a powerful shot but was just wide on the near post. Nice shot.
9	120	Yes	Lukasz Tumicz	Rhode Island	Sr	A10 1st Team; 12g, 3a; Polish Birthdate: 3/1/85; after combine, mixed feelings; Balc was giving great service and he didn’t convert; willing to take shots; not moving
10	200	Yes	Kenzo Webster	Michigan State	Sr	B10 2nd team; 4g; 6a in 21/21 games; In Big 10 tourn (PSU), “Kenzo Webster showed flexibility playing wide right midfield as well starting up top. He’s quick. He didn’t have a good look at goal.” He has a good first touch.
11	207	Yes	Kevin Davies	Brown	Sr	Ivy 1st team; 10g, 3a in 15/16 games; 2 year starter (?); Against Rutgers tallied 1 goal, 1 assist, “[team mate] delivered a 65 yard pass to Davies in stride in the 55th minute that Davies was able to chip over the on-rushing Rutgers goal keeper. Beautiful pass/beautiful shot.”
12	208	Yes	Kurt Martin	Notre Dame	Sr	Big East 3rd Team; 2g 1a in 20/21; Against UCLA, “playing withdrawn forward played a nice game. He would pop up at opportune times and hit hard shots that were just off target. Perk came up big just at the end of the 1st half on a cracker of a shot!”; against Gtown, “Senior forward Kurt Martin has above average technical abilities. Oddly, as remarked by a ND fan, he turns into traffic rather than away. It causes him more trouble instead of giving him space.”; just isn’t productive enough
13	210	No	Juan Gavaria	St. Peter’s	Sr	MAAC 1st team; 2006 MAAC Offensive POTY; 10g; 4a in 19/20 games; against UVA in NCAA, suspended for red card against Loyola in MAAC final. Legitimate red card – intentional push; may have cost his team a NCAA victory.
14	500	No	Kraig Chiles	San Diego State	Sr	PAC10 1st team; 8g,4a in 19/19 games; 2 year starter;
15	501	Yes	Murphy Wiredu	St. Peter’s	Sr	MAAC offensive POTY; MAAC 1st Team; Canadian; 1/15/85; 14g, 4a in 22/22 games; against UVA in NCAA, “Wiredu is composed, laying the ball off to his trailing midfielders, leading his strike partner and getting it wide to the overlapping midfielders. He took 1 shot in the first half with his left foot. Wiredu wasn’t able to find open space to work. He was marked very closely by the UVA central defense tandem of Zola Short and Matt Poole.”;
16	503	No	Mkhokheli Dube	Coastal Carolina	Sr	BigSouth POTY; 2006 BigSouth 1st Team; 11g, 5a in 14/17 games; Did not see play; transferred from NAIA (Lindsey Wilson); From Zimbabwe-birthdate: 6/18/83 – MLS SI in 2008; This will hurt his chances with MLS.
17	504	Yes	Patrick Baxter	Cinncinati	Sr	4g, 4a in 15/16 games; against Depaul (BigEast), “In the 74th minute, Cincinnati’s hope dwindled when [he] earned a straight red card for language that can’t be written in this post.” and “Before that “moment of glory”, he really impressed me. He has very good dribbling, passing, and defending skills. He plays more of a withdrawn forward trying to create for the top running senior forward Kenny Anaba. I think the straight red card was harsh and essentially ended the season for Cincinnati. Saying that, a senior needs to know when to shut his mouth. He cost his team.”; Even after this exhibition, he’s a quality player that could be an asset. I’d be willing to risk a low pick for him.
18	505	No	Casey Ftorek	Middlebury	Sr	D3 AA 1st Team; NESCAC 1st Team; 17g,5a in 22/22 games; Div3 champions; transferred from Taft;
19	506	Yes	Victor Diaz	Wisconsin	Sr	B10 1st team; 4g 8a in 17/18 games; Spanish Birthdate: 4/18/85; Diaz is slick. He’s a tremendous player. But, he’s not a US citizen and he’s going to be a senior international very soon. I doubt that MLS will have much interest in him.
20	508	Yes	Javier Ayala-Hill	California	Sr	PAC10 2nd team; 5g,5a in 20/20 games; starter for only 2.5 years; against VT (NCAA), “”Wideman was able to gather the ball, centering it to an open senior forward Javier Ayala-Hil. Ayala-Hil finished from 5 yards. In the last minute of regulation, Ayala-Hil tallied his second goal of the game from a centering pass from Wideman. Ayala-Hil is quick. He’ll need to have a good combine.”";
21	509	Yes	George Josten	Gonzaga	Sr	AA 3rd Team; WCC 1st Team; 5g,7a in 19/20 games; after scoring 12 goals per year over the last 2 years, this year was not as productive; 3.5 year starter; after combine, scored only goal in first day, but demonstrated his lack of touch earning the much maligned “feet of stone award”; stones – drop, so does George; scores 2 more goals to win the “golden flip-flop for most goals in the combine”; upgrading – probably just going to be reserve fodder;
22	510	Yes	Ricardo Pierre-Louis	Lee	Sr	NAIA POTY; NAIA AA 3 times; 29g, 11a in 17/17 games; from Haiti – birthdate: 11/2/84; missed a month of the season for leg injury; after combine, “big guy, very raw; a project. Not sure that he’s worth it.; upgrading slightly;
23	511	TV	Eric Anton	Colgate	Sr	Patriot 1st team; 5g,3a in 15/19 games; 3 year starter; against Lafayette (TV), “scored an oh my gawd goal – 30 yards upper corner side netting, hitting all of it. He was really impressing before he scored the game winner. I like his touch and his athletic leaping. He tried a side volley that was just wide in the first half.”; He might have a chance as a defender.
24	516	Yes	Sherron Manswell	Boston College	Sr	AA 3rd Team; ACC 2nd team; 11g, 7a in 21 games; big, strong, very slow. Finishes well with his feet and his head.; From Trinidad-Born: 3/2/83; against VT (ACC), “[he] is a tall durable target. He resembles Jozy Altidore but he has “Jeff Agoos” speed. This is going to be a problem that I am not sure that will be reconcilable in the pros. I think he will be dropping into the 2nd-3rd round unless he cheats on his sprinting test at the combine.”; after the combine, big target forward that doesn’t move well; minor downgrade
25	518	Yes	Maximiliano Damiano	Argentina	X	from Argentina, birthdate: 3/15/87; Not in draft list; kept here for ranking purposes; biggest field player, light on his feet with good foot skills. Not mobile enough; still very young;
26	520	Yes	Kevin Forrest	Washington	Sr	PAC10 2nd team; 2006 PAC10 POTY; 6g, 3a in 11 games; stress facture in the foot (navicular bone). Hopes to be ready for MLS combine; against New Mexico, “Forrest has both strength in the air and he has a good shot. He’s got potential to be a professional; however, I’m not sure that he’s quality enough to be more than just a bit player (e.g., Brad North, Brad Evans, etc.). In the 7th minute, Forrest drove the ball and shot from the dribble from 30 yards that the NM goal keeper deflected for a corner kick. In the 72nd minute, he received a ball that Allen had been holding, 2 touches and back to Allen a single touch to Forrest for a powerful shot that was wide.”; against SMU, “On the second goal, Allen and SMU defender Richard Oliva got tangled near midfield and the sideline. While Allen turned, Oliva fell. Allen trotted down the side line unchallenged. Kevin Forrest made a supporting run down the middle of the field covered by SMU defender Ryan Mirsky. With Allen approaching, Sandbo closed the angle, Mirsky shaded toward Allen. From 25 yards, Allen curled a ball onto Forrest’s foot that he shot into the unguarded net.” and “success starts up top with the experienced Forrest and Allen tandem. Forrest exhibited why he’s so well thought of in college. However, he’s not able to create his own shot. A reader asked me what I meant by this in a previous post. I look for a player with only 1 defender (or more) to beat to create the space to have an open shot or better yet beat the defender on the dribble. While Forrest can shoot, he really isn’t a terrific dribbler. He can hold the ball or run onto the ball and shoot. In today’s game, he tried to do a step-over and it looked very uncomfortable (not only for him, but for fans in the stands).”; after the combine, he’s not able to create his shot as previously seen. He can play off others. He’s too slow for the next level; downgrading;
27	522	No	Jacek Przednowek	Robert Morris	Sr	NEC 1st team; 15g,4a in 15/18 game; From Canada birthdate: xx/xx/xx; starter for 3 years; transferred from St. John’s College (Canada);
28	525	Yes	Kai Kasiguran	Messiah	Sr	D3 AA 1st Team; 3 time div III conference POTY, 4 time D3 All-American; 10g, 7a; against York, “He didn’t show me anything.”; after combine, “has some ball skills, but expects more time than available. Supporting runs lacking. Upgrading slightly.
29	528	Yes	El Hadj Cisse	NC State	Sr	ACC 2nd team; 5g, 1a in 17/17 games; Ivory Coast citizen; birthdate – 12/30/85 (2 more days!); against UVA (regular season), “On the first goal for NCST, Mora crossed in a ball that senior (and solo front runner) El Hadj Cisse flicked in for the opening goal of the game. Cisse is a fast forward that has the ability to get behind defenses. He is one of the players that tries to embellish on fouls – but not very convincingly.”; against MD, “Cisse was a threat with his speed and tight turns. However, he never got sufficient service to make an impact.”; after the combine, takes too much time to get off his shot; minor downgrade
30	530	No	Greg Kilkenny	Northeastern	Sr	CAA 1st team; 7g, 9a in 19/19 games; from Ireland birthdate: 10/10/83; averaging 6 goals per season over 3 years;
31	801	Yes	Andrew Wheeler	York College	Sr	CAC (div III) 1st Team; 2006 CAC POTY; 11g, 10a; 2006 Div III All-American; 2007 PDL All-league and MVP runner-up 14g, 5a; against Gettysburgh, “He was an NJCAA All-regional in 2004. The same year that Michael Randolph was a JUCO MVP. I wanted to see if he’s ready to be a professional. Short answer, nope – not yet. My understanding is that he was ineligible to play Division I/II because his grades were insufficient. It’s too bad, because he hasn’t had that day-to-day competition pushing him to get better and work harder. In a competitive environment, he skills and determination could be honed more fine. Wheeler got an early goal by stealing a back pass faking the keeper and finishing the opportunity within 2 minutes of the start of the game. Then a minute later, he settled the ball and passed the ball to an open Justin Suchoski that went just wide. Wow. I was gearing up to see an exhibit of skill. It didn’t materialize. After scoring, Wheeler wasn’t too effective. A head flick here, a flick on, a couple of step-overs. But he was generally too static. He has good dribbling skills and is a tall target (6′3″). Kind of reminds me of Jacqua (at least for being tall). Wheeler seems to like to get wide to give himself more time for his first touch and to isolate the outside defender in a 1v1 situation. Wheeler has a hard shot but today it was erratic killing many low flying birds in the area. His work rate was woefully inadequate. I wonder if he’s lazy because he doesn’t need to run hard to receive the ball or is it that he isn’t challenged. Perhaps, this is his personality. At times, he tries to be too clever (e.g., unnecessary back heels) that might give credence to his being bored. The second half was much better. Wheeler took a very wide position. On one play, he headed the ball over his defender getting behind the Gettysburg defense, and centered the ball to an open Jason Mancuso who let the ball run to give himself more space and finished. On the play, Wheeler didn’t assertively put himself in a better position (rebound, pass back), instead, he did that “fake half run” (if you have ever coached kids, you know this one – half run looking like the player is working, but going nowhere). I observed other runs/thoughts that make me wonder about his tactical complexity. Does he make the proper run? With the run, does he attack at various change of pace? Is he thinking ahead, where is the ball going, where should he be? What could unbalance the defense? I don’t think so. He’s very competent running onto a through ball or taking on a defender 1v1. I have seen him shoot with power from speed. Luckily, I will see Wheeler more this year to either confirm my initial observations/suspicions or refute them. Right now, I don’t think he’s a MLS quality draft candidate.”; against Messiah, “Wheeler was suspended after picking up his 5th yellow card of the season. If I can give him one small piece of advice, keep your mouth shut. The referee doesn’t need your 22 year old opinion. So, I’m disappointed that Wheeler did not play.”;
32	802	No	Brett Paschall	Elon	Sr	SoCon 1st Team; 7g,6a in 17/19 games;
33	805	No	Anton Axelsson	Jacksonville	Sr	Atlantic Sun Conf 1st Team; 16g,4a in 19/20 games; 8g, 9g in 2006, 2005, respectively; from Sweden birthdate: 2/28/84;
34	806	No	Nick Figueiredo	Bowdoin	Sr	D3 AA 1st Team; NESCAC 1st Team; NESCAC POTY; 10g,11a in 16/16 games; 3 time NESCAC 1st team; would need to have a good combine
35	807	No	Matt Hoff	Harvard	Sr	Ivy 1st team; 2g, 8a in 16/16 games; 4 year starter;
36	810	No	Tanner Wolfe	Stetson	Sr	Atlantic Sun Conf 1st Team; 8g,7a in 15/16 games; 1st team in 2005 and 2006; very small;
37	815	No	Ismael Ibarra	San Jose	Sr	MPSF 1st Team; 9g,3a in 17/19 games; transfer from JUCO school; sat out 2006; not sure why;
38	1005	Yes	Adrian Bumbut	Liberty	Sr	BigSouth 1st Team; 12g, 5a; Romanian – Birthdate:xx/xx/xx ; against UNCA (BigSouth), “Bumbut (from Romania) was not involved in the scoring today, but he is the leading goal scorer for Liberty for the season with 12 goals and 3 assists. As an international player, I’ve seen better.”; against Loyola (NCAA), “Bumbut was active getting back to retrieve the ball and ensure that junior midfielder Joshua Boateng received it in positions to attack. Loyola was adept at making Boateng take the ball to his less favored right side. Bumbut is actively pursuing a professional opportunity by being invited to the USL, european and MLS combines this off-season. Given his age and his size, I don’t believe that he’s MLS quality.”;
39	1010	Yes	Kenny Anaba	Cinncinati	Sr	BigEast 1st team; 10g, 3a in 18/20 games; against Depaul (BigEast), “Anaba stood around yesterday. He’s got a big body but he doesn’t seem to have sufficient desire. He is one of the reasons that Cincinnati didn’t advance. He had one goal called back in the first half for a hand ball. It looked like a good call to me.”;
40	1012	Yes	Davorin Husadzinovic	Radford	Sr	BigSouth 2nd Team; 6g, 2a; From Bosnia – Birthdate: xx/xx/xx; Against VMI, “On the opening goal, Caruso made a long throw that senior forward Davorin Husadzinovic flicked on from the near post to the far post and onto sophomore midfielder Justin Zimmer’s head. This was Zimmer’s first goal of the season. The second goal was even better. Elimibi sent a long pass in the “jet stream” that went 40 yards onto the foot of Husadzinovic. He brought the ball down silently, dribbling into the box with tacit pressure. He hooked the ball around the defender into the side netting for a beautiful goal.”;
41	1013	Yes	Pat Viray	VCU	Sr	CAA 3rd Team; 6g, 5a; Not a regular starter (probably should have been instead of the freshman forward); Don’t think that he’ll be drafted by MLS.
42	1016	Yes	Abimbola Pedro	George Washington	Sr	A10 2nd Team; 6g, 7a in 10/16 games; from Nigeria-Birthdate: 8/1/1987; A10 has him as a junior, GW has him as a senior; against Richmond, “Pedro has speed, power and athleticism. He is a good target in the air, but he wastes many opportunities. He has a strong left foot with a few shots that were just wide or high. For MLS, he’s not worth an international slot, though.”;
43	1017	Yes	Sam Bailey	Fairfield	Sr	MAAC 1st Team; 8g,4a in 17/17 games; from England-Birthdate: XX/XX/XX; against Loyola, no negative or positive comment; 4 year starter
44	1019	No	Jared Britcher	Memphis	Sr	C-USA 2nd team; 5g,5a in 14/15 games;
45	1024	Yes	Omar Alfonso	St. Johns	Sr	4g, 1a; transferred as grad student from Loyola (MD); Lost 2005 season to hip injury; 2003 MAAC POTY (17g, 6a), 2004 MAAC 1st Team (3g, 6a), 2006 MAAC 1st Team (6g, 7a); only played 15 minutes against Virginia Tech. Born in Colombia, I’m not sure if he’s a US Citizen. Pro prospects not high;
46	1025	Yes	Eliot Paschalis	Furman	Sr	SoCon 2nd Team; 3g,6a (2pk) in 20/20 games; from England birthdate: 11/21/83; 4 year starter;
47	1026	No	Cory Elenio	Evansville	Sr	MVC 1st team; 7g,9a in 18/20 games;
48	3000	Yes	Paul Dudley	Duke	Sr	7g, 1a in 11/20 games; Tall and slow; tallied 7 g, 1 a; Chris Loftus re-visited; he’d be able to ride the bench. He doesn’t have enough technical skill to warrant a pick.
49	3001	No	Richard Godfrey	Gardner-Webb	Sr	Atlantic Sun Conf 1st Team; 11g, 1a in 18 games; speedster on a bad team; from Jamaica birthdate: XX/XX/XX?; transferred from Schoolcraft JUCO
50	3002	Yes	Adam Sternberger	Rutgers	Sr	3g,4a in 18/19 games; against Brown, “With less than 10 minutes remaining and Rutgers down a goal, Rutgers was pushing numbers forward. Senior forward Adam Sternberger took a side volley onto goal that the Brown GK was able to smother.” Pretty athletic move.
51	3003	No	Vicente Arze	Mercer	Sr	Atlantic Sun Conf 2nd Team; 5g,7a in 19/19 games; from Bolivia birthdate: xx/xx/xx; ASC all conf team multiple times; small forward; dribbles too much?
52	3004	Yes	Keith Savage	West Florida	Sr	D2 GSC 1st Team (3 times), 14g, 9a in 20/20 games; Combine was disappointing for him; might have a chance at defense, but that is a big risk, too; downgrading after viewing at combine.
53	3005	No	Dan Shapiro	Stanford	Sr	PAC10 Honorable Mention; 4g,0a in 18/18 games; 3 year starter;
54	3007	No	Sean Sassano	Appalachian St	Sr	SoCon 2nd Team; 5g,4a in 19/19 games; 3.5 year starter;
55	3010	Yes	Tino Nunez	UCSB	Sr	BigWest 1st Team; 5g, 5a; I’m not a fan; Against SMU, “The play started with Chris Pontius sending a 30 yard pass into the box that Tino Nunez squared to an on-rushing O’Brien who finished to the near post with a well hit ball from 11 yards.” and “I am still not a Tino Nunez fan (I saw him last year). He’s playing outside midfielder and I can’t see him playing in MLS. He just doesn’t work hard enough. Nice college player.”; Against New Mexico, “Tino Nunez had his normal sub-par first half, ill-advised shot in the opening minutes when better options were available, a foolish handball because he couldn’t jump high enough on a ball at midfield, not running for O’Brien into a more attacking position and a few bad touches. However, in the second half, he was alert, active and running hard. He’d make a pass and run to the open space, receive the ball, 1 or 2 touches and pass it to a team mate. I was impressed – however, I wouldn’t draft this guy on my fantasy soccer team just to fill out the roster.”; against UCI (TV), “working hard! something has inspired him (not sure what), good touch and good passing. He dropped the ball to Pontius for first goal.”;
56	3011	TV	Scott Hawkins	Lafayette	Sr	Patriot 2nd team; 7g,1a in 18/18 games; 4 year starter avg 7g/yr; against Colgate (TV), “scored an early goal off a scrum in the box – pretty balanced to touch the ball in when it bounced to waste level. Didn’t do much afterwards.”;
57	3015	Yes	Ben Page	Lipscomb	Sr	Atlantic Sun Conf 1st Team; 7g (3pk),4a in 19/19 games; against Eastern Illinois, “…very strong shot. “; not optimistic
58	3016	Yes	Pablo Moreira	Akron	Sr	MAC 2nd team; 5g, 2a in 19/20 games; only played late in 2nd game of week-end – possibly coming back from minor injury?
59	7001	No	Nick Webb	Oregon State	Sr	PAC10 2nd team; 6g,3a in 13/20 games; not a consistent starter throughout career; transfer from Western Washington following freshman year;
60	7002	Yes	Spencer Wadsworth	Duke	Sr	2g, 1a in 6/20 games; Can’t start for college team, not likely to be able to start for a pro team; pass
61	7003	No	Tom Oatley	Western Michigan	Sr	MAC 2nd team; 5g,4a in 18/19 games; best season was 2005 12g, 2a; WM not very good
62	7005	No	Ian McAuley	Evansville	Sr	MVC 2nd team; 6g,2a in 4/19 games; not a starter in college; From Trinidad birthdate: 11/8/83;
63	7010	TV	Aaron Swanson	Kentucky	Sr	C-USA 3rd team; 5g,0a in 11/17 games; transferred from Dayton after taking 2006 off; not prolific enough; against KY (TV), “didn’t have enough speed to get past Chevannes. Tweaked ankle midway through 1st half not to return.”;
64	7011	Yes	Blake Danaher	New Mexico	Sr	2g, 3a; Fast; not a college starter, I’m not optimistic
65	7013	TV	Todd Goddard	Tulsa	Sr	CUSA 3rd team; 11g, 1a in 17 games; starter as freshman (mostly come off the bench); against VT (TV), “scored the first goal on a well placed shot against a better goalkeeper, it would probably would have been saved. Either hurt himself (which limited his minutes) or was not in shape (perhaps). Regardless, disappeared even when on the field for long periods.”; against FIU (TV-CUSA), ‘came off the bench to score the tying goal with 9 minutes remaining in the game. He cut in front of the goalie on a long pass and headed it down for a nice goal; mostly a reserve since his freshman year”; against USC (TV), “had a powerful on-target shot off the bench”;
66	7014	No	Nicholas Lind	UC-Davis	Sr	BigWest 2nd team; 5g,4a in 18/19 games; 4 year starter; 4 year of insignificant scoring regardless if he’s related to Klinnsman.
67	7015	No	Marcus McCarty	Northern Illinois	Sr	MAC 2nd team; 6g,1a in 17 games; transferred from CUSA Memphis
68	7016	No	Emile Innocent	Howard	Sr	ASC 1st Team; 2g,2a in 16/16 games; small forward (5′8″)
69	8000	No	Jeremy Ortiz	La Salle	Sr	A10 Honorable Mention; 3g, 0a in 15/16 games; Not sufficient productivity
70	8001	No	Andrew Villalobos	UC-Riverside	Sr	BigWest Honorable Mention; 1g,2a in 7/18 games; not a starter; not a scorer, not a chance;
71	8005	No	Julio Gonzalez	San Jose	Sr	MPSF Honorable Mention; 6g,1a in 8/17 games; transfer from Fresno City college (didn’t play soccer); not a starter in the past 2 years; pass
72	8008	Yes	Chris Davis	Furman	Sr	5g,2a in 2/23 games; not a starter in college; not a pro prospect;
73	8010	No	Devon Klipp	Philadelphia	Sr	ASC 2nd Team; 2g,3a in 17/18 games; not prolific goal scorer throughout his career in a weak conference
74	8100	No	Curt Zastrow	Northern Illinois	Sr	0g, 1a in 15 games; forwards who don’t score, need to investigate other work
75	8120	Yes	Alimer Gonzalez	Wake Forest	Sr	Scored 1 goal in 4 yrs; not draftable

 

2008 MLS Draft: Midfielder Rankings

[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 midfielders. I’ll follow this with rankings of forwards and over-all. The number of games started versus the number of games played is written as “15/18 games” (15 games started of 18 games played).

I will be tweaking the midfielders a lot more after reviewing tape.

Enjoy!

1	5	TV	Peter Lowry	Santa Clara	Sr	AA 1st team; WCC 1st Team; WCC POTY; 8g,7a in 22/22 games; 4 year starter; against San Francisco “disappeared for a large part of the game, absolutely amazing confidence on the ball, passing exemplary; tremendous vision, touch is very good”; after combine, pest senior midfielder – scored two goals (important part is not the goals but the composure and placement of the shot.” upgrading;
2	6	Yes	Jonathan Sabbatini	Uruguay	X	from Uruguay, birthdate: 3/31/88; Not in draft list; kept here for ranking purposes; best of the south americans; turns very quickly; very smart in finding opening spaces; well schooled; very good player; upgraded;
3	7	TV	Brek Shea	U17	X	GA; U17; need to review tape before draft; ranking inflated because of GA benefits; after combine, outstanding – he is the best U17; depth at best – don’t foresee a starting role in 2008. doesn’t look comfortable in the back; upgraded;
4	14	Yes	Eric Avila	UCSB	Jr	GA; BigWest 1st Team (2nd time); 2006 AA 2nd Team; 4g, 8a in 18/20 games;against SMU, “”The winning goal in the first OT was started by Eric Avila (who was moved more centrally in the OT period) from 35 yards out. He dribbled toward the box and distributed a diagonal pass into the top corner of the box to an awaiting O’Brien who pressed forward. From 3 yards, Avila deflected the O’Brien square pass for the golden goal victory.”" & “”Avila was not as dominant creating as he was last year. He’s still very good. His shooting seemed just a bit off. Shots were low and hard, but just wide..”"; against NM, “”I liked him better wide (last year), because it guards him from blind side tackles, he has looked very comfortable in the middle teaming with O’Brien. His dribbling and shiftiness is stunning. Avila needs to work on his shot.”"; against UCI (TV), “”dangerous passer and dribbling giving good service. Looks taller and stronger than last year.”"; pre-season write-up –> “”… is a 2006 NSCAA second team All-American and 2006 CSN second team All-American. He will be a junior next year. Avila scored 8 goals and 5 assists in 2006. As a freshman, he was a member of the 2005 CSN all-freshmen team and was the Freshman of the Year for the Big West Conference. In the first game of 2006 against Akron, he was exceptional, scoring 2 goals (1 a penalty) and was a terror the entire day. He’s a good passer, terrific dribbler (confidently taking on players). I was very impressed with the speed that he reads/understands the game.His goal that he scored during the run of play was brilliant. Bryan Byrnes (who I liked a lot except he was too old as an international – Irish for MLS) dribbled the ball right to left diagonally from 40 yards to 25 yards out (more east-west than north-south) pulling the Akron team to their right side opening up an unmarked Avila who received the ball on the Akron left defensive side about 30 yards from goal. Avila took 2 deft touches, the first to his right pulling his defender to Avila’s right side opening up the space that he wanted to exploit to his left side on his second touch passing his defender and finally burying the ball into the near post with a beautiful placed shot.”".
5	15	Yes	Andrew Jacobson	California	Sr	AA 1st team; PAC10 1st team; 4g,3a in 20/20 games; 3 year starter; against VT (NCAA), “He’s quite a player. He plays a 2-way midfielder. He drops back to get the ball from his defenders. His passing accuracy is phenomenal. In tight areas, his dribbling and passing is top-notch. Jacobson plays defense. In fact, he stopped Nyarko on one VT possession and quickly transitioned into attack for Cal. He was responsible for the first Cal goal. Jacobson crushed a shot from 30 yards that Aigner could not catch because of the ball movement. “; after combine, more impressed – solid player, he’s going to be a good MLS player. upgrading
6	16	Yes	David Roth	Northwestern	Sr	AA 2nd Team; 2 time B10 1st Team; 6g, 7a in 20/20 games; In B10 (OSU), “Roth is a very nice player that weights passes amongst the top college passers. He’s going to play in the next level.”; In B10 (Wisconsin), ” Roth scored 2 goals while missing almost the entire first half because of reckless tackle in the 5th minute. Roth adds another dimension for NW.”; after combine; passing wsa a little suspect in the first game; settled down; nice touch; downgraded just slightly;
7	18	Yes	Ciarnan O’brien	UCSB	So	GA; BigWest 1st Team (2nd time); 7g, 11a in 21/21 games; against SMU, “”Ciaran O’Brien scored the first goal. The play started with Chris Pontius sending a 30 yard pass into the box that Tino Nunez squared to an on-rushing O’Brien who finished to the near post with a well hit ball from 11 yards.The winning goal in the first OT was started by Eric Avila (who was moved more centrally in the OT period) from 35 yards out. He dribbled toward the box and distributed a diagonal pass into the top corner of the box to an awaiting O’Brien who pressed forward. From 3 yards, Avila deflected the O’Brien square pass for the golden goal victory. O’Brien is a sophomore transfer from San Diego. Last year, he was a freshman All-American. I can believe this. He’s a tremendous player. I’m very impressed.”"; against NM, “”O’Brien is a very talented, highly volatile player. If I were playing UCSB in a NCAA tournament game, I’d have a few big substitute midfielders foul him hard at the beginning of the game and watch him implode. He needs to mature and not be drawn into petty skirmishes, he’s too talented for that. Besides, I assume Kyle Kaveny’s role is to protect him. I like his play. If he grows up, shuts his mouth and lets his game talk for him, I could see him be a Generation Adidas player soon. I need to find out why he transferred from San Diego? Can he get along with his coach and teammates? Is he too tempermental? These things will determine how quickly and how effective that O’Brien will be joining the professional ranks. Without a doubt, he has professional skills. The only outstanding question is the mental game.”"; against UCI (TV), “”linch-pin for the UCSB attack, explosive dribbler, creative and visionary, may be the best technical player on UCSB. Whiny ‘crybaby’ (I have another word that is more descriptive)”"; needs to mature after combine, didn’t have a good combine, never put his stamp – he may be a value GA pick. downgrading;
8	80	Yes	Shea Salinas	Furman	Sr	AA 3rd Team; SoCon 1st team; 5g,9a in 23/23 games; vs UNCG (SoCon final), “right wide midfielder Shea Salinas has above average speed, tremendous balance and is willing to take on defenders. He was a threat all day to the UNCG left sided defense. I don’t think he’s a MLS player, but he’s worth a supplemental pick. He was very shifty.”; after combine, one of the best wide midfielders. quick can get around the corner, good dribbler, upgrading!
9	84	Yes	Joe Germanese	Duke	Sr	3 g, 7 a in 19/19 games, transferred from Vanderbilt after 2005 season; From SLU match, “He has good speed, is willing to play with others, has adequate crossing. In the first half, he was all over the right side, causing problems for SLU. Germanese will probably play outside midfield in MLS.” He didn’t have a good game against UNC in ACC tournament. He’s very quick and has tremendous work rate.; after combine, had a terrific combine, creating chances and being a pain to the other team on the right side. looks like a NE pick; upgrading
10	86	Yes	Stephen King	Maryland	Sr	AA 3rd Team; ACC 1st team; 2g, 13a in 21/21 games; I’d be shocked if he wasn’t an All-american. I’ve seen him a ton of times over his four years. He hasn’t missed a start since his freshman year – dependable. His passing is top-notch. I don’t think he’ll play AM in MLS. I think that he’ll thrive as an outside defender. I don’t think he has the motor or the destroyer mentality to play DM.; after combine; nothing in 1 day is going to change my opinion of him after 4 years; he’s a winner; upgrading;
11	88	Yes	Michael Videira	Duke	Sr	AA 3rd Team; ACC 1st team; 2g, 3a down from 8g, 7a in 2006; smooth college player, battled injuries this year for a disappointing year; reminds me of Scott Jones (UNCG); against SLU, “Videira is a very good ball player. His passing is top notch and well weighted. He had 2 snap headers that I hadn’t seen this in his game before. So, that was nice to see. But I wonder what role he’ll play at the next level. I don’t see him as starting as an AM in the MLS. So, where does he play? Wide? DM? Back? He’s got good skills, someone will take him.”
12	102	Yes	Alex Yoshinaga	Notre Dame	Sr	3g 3a in 23/23; I like his passing and his head for the game; against UCLA, “Yoshinaga teamed up with Jack Traynor to cause havoc on the left side.”; against Gtown, “Yoshinaga is flexible playing central midfield, defense and outside midfielder. During this game, he worked effectively with right back Miller. Yoshinaga is draft quality.”
13	104	Yes	Jeremy Barlow	UVA	Sr	ACC 2nd team; 1g, 6a in 18 games; Quick with outstanding dribbling skills; against Virginia Tech, “Barlow is extremely quick. He was beating VT players at will. His crossing at speed needs to improve, though. He is making a statement that he’s a MLS quality outside midfielder. Some argued that Barlow deserved more time at the expense of Colaluca last year.”; Against UNC, “Barlow continues to show his quickness and his ability to beat defenders on the dribble.”; Against NCST (ACC), “his speed and cutting ability is dangerous. He might be able to play in MLS except I worry about his size. He can’t be any worse than Nico Colaluca. Barlow best position would probably be wide midfielder.”; after combine; erratic – some good, some bad – consistency, down grading;
14	105	TV	Alex Nimo	U17	X	GA; U17; need to review tape before draft; ranking inflated because of GA benefits; after combine, doesn’t really make an impact; very small, doubt that he’ll see 1st team action in 2008 (maybe even 2009), downgrading;
15	115	Yes	Matthijs Marunaya	VCU	Sr	CAA 3rd Team; 2g, 11a; Dutch citizen: birthdate-1/6/84; 2005/2006 CAA 2nd Team – so he’s gotten better or the rest of the CAA has gotten better. Yeah, right; Set the VCU school record for assists topping such notable MLS players, Stephen Shirley and Gonzalo Segares; against UVA (exhibition), “Maruanaya is a classy player. His first touch is golden. He’s one of my unsung that deserves to be watched.”; against MD (exhibition), “Maruanaya is very slick, with a top-notch first touch. He scored the first goal with a 35 yard free kick that was served into the box and wound up going in untouched on a stunned UMD GK Will Swaim.”; against William and Mary, “Maruanaya is an imaginative play maker. His team-mates constrict his ability because they can’t see the runs that they need to make. He can hold the ball well and his passes are precise.”;
16	203	Yes	Ben Nason	Virginia Tech	Sr	ACC 2nd team; 7g 2a in 21/21 games for DM (not bad); I’ve been impressed with Nason since I saw him last year. After watching him play in the Spring and half a dozen times this fall, he is an honest player who shoots and runs hard while combining effectively with others. Against SJU, “he didn’t have as much impact but he was further back in a more true DM position. He tackles very well and can transition when necessary.” Against UVA, “He’s playing much further back. I assume it’s because there are more offensive options and that the 2 VT central defenders rely on him more. He’s someone that helps teams win.”; Against MD at MD, “Ben Nason is solid as a DM.”; Against MD (in ACC), “Nason chose an opportune time to score two goals in front of 11 MLS teams. He has good skills, sufficient quickness and the ability to make hard tackles.”;
17	204	Yes	Scott Campbell	UNC	Jr	2g,4a in 19/19 games; against Duke (ACC), “In the 13th minute, Dworsky stole a pass creating a quick transition into the Duke penalty area to Scott Campbell. Campbell drew the Duke defenders to him and squared the ball to an open Michael Callahan who finished from 6 yards into the open net.”; against UVA, “Funniest moment happened early in warm-ups. A few players came out to stretch their legs, kick the ball around, etc. Scott Campbell and junior Jordan Graye were playing soccer tennis using the midfield line as the net. Campbell was crushing Graye with soft touches that died just over Graye’s side, occassional hard shots that Gray kept hitting on the line (Campbell’s point). The game ended when Campbell tried to make a hard volley that got away and thumped Graye in the face. I think Graye may have gotten dizzy the shot was so hard!”; against Akron, “Scott Campbell is active. He’s in control and is key to the UNC attack. He would probably need to play defense rather than midfield at the next level.”; against Bradley, “Zach Loyd got the goal on some brilliant combination play with Dworsky and Scott Campbell.”; after combine, hasn’t done much – hiding in background? – TBD
	205	Yes	Roger Espinoza	Ohio State	Jr	GA; B10 1st team; 3g, 3a in 25/26 games; Terrific dribbler; tactically immature; can only play left mid – everywhere else he still plays LM;
18	206	No	Brock Trejo	BYU	Sr	4g 1a; All western conference PDL; played with RSL reserves (30 day contract); “willing to play for free” funny; might go to medical school instead of playing professionally – we’ll see; there’s a video out on the web of him (URL messes up my table)
19	207	TV	Dan Stratford	West Virginia	Sr	BigEast 2nd team; 6g, 8a in 22/22 games; from England birthdate: 5/29/85; against MD (TV), “only goal from a driven header in OT, accurate free kicks, active”; against Uconn (TV), “had the assist for the only goal. More precise passing”; after combine, wasn’t as sharp as I wanted, not sure that he’s worth taking (might consider other options); downgrading;
20	208	Yes	Pat Healey	Towson	Sr	CAA POTY; 8g, 9a; CAA 1st team 2007 and 2006; Against ODU, Healey didn’t do anything noteworthy. Combine very important; I wouldn’t be surprised if he went MISL route and stayed in Baltimore.; after combine, too slow of thought – takes too long to do anything; calmed down on the second day; TBD; downgrading
21	209	Yes	Geoffrey Cameron	Rhode Island	Sr	A10 Midfielder of the year; A10 1st Team; 2g, 3a; defensive midfielder; big guy; Need to see at combine; after combine, never made an impact; considering
22	210	Yes	Kevin Reiman	Michigan State	Sr	B10 2nd team; 1g, 5a in 20/20 games; In B10 (IU), “Reiman sat out the first game (against PSU) because of a red card that was awarded to him in the last regular season match. His insertion into the line-up was a vast improvement on set pieces. Additionally, with his speed and quick turns, he’s able to mount successful attacks.”; play at MD for first 2 years.
23	211	Yes	Cesar Zambrano	UIC	Sr	Horizon 1st team; 6g,7a in 20/22 games; US citizen of Mexican descent raised in Chicago’s Mexican community. Plays AM; Question where was he in 2004?; after combine, pathetic combine – wasn’t playing well. Downgrading;
24	212	Yes	Ernesto Di Laudo	NC State	Sr	3g, 0a in 17/17 games; Argentian; birthdate – 3/31/1984; I like his speed and his dribbling ability, but he hasn’t been productive in 4 years; Against UVA, ” Di Laudo may be the quickest player on the team. He also has tremendous technical skill. The major downside for him is that he’s from Argentina and he’s already 23 years old.”; against MD, “MD started a slow defense, NCST put their fastest player (Di Laudo) too deep to be an offensive weapon.”; against UVA (ACC), “in the 3rd minute, UVA tallied the first goal on a defensive mistake. Ernesto di Laudo playing an unfamiliar right back, held a streaking Ross Labauex onside.”;
25	214	No	Vangel Nacovski	IUPUI	Sr	Summit 1st team; Summit Off POTY; 9g,5a in 20/20 games; 4 year starter; avg 9g/yr
26	500	TV	Daniel DeGeer	San Francisco	Sr	WCC 1st Team; 3g,6a in 15/15 games; didn’t start until senior year; prior to this year avg just over 1a/yr, against Santa Clara, “great engine, tremendous creator, passer, MOTM against SC in a losing effort; impressed me;
27	504	TV	Eric Burkholder	Tulsa	Sr	CUSA 3rd team; 4g, 9a in 20 games; 3 year starter; small player, terrific passer with good vision; against VT (TV), “exposed VT defense with a well weighted curving ball that was on the money. May be an option as an outside midfielder. Very active”; against FIU (TV-CUSA), “MOTM. Scored 2 goals including the winner with 4 minutes remaining. He made a 50 yard run, beating a defender on his way. His first goal was a shot/cross that the FIU GK let over his head. The second was from a cross that was deflected over the GK’s head and Burkholder touched it in from 4 yards – it was an effort goal. Nice to see. Very impressive.”; against USC, “didn’t do a lot, but was hard to pick out with the Tulsa uniforms. Had a beautiful move in the first half, great turn, beating 2 defenders, shot just wide. Had the only goal, gathering up a deflection from 12 yards and slotted it into the corner”; Burkholder should be on TV for every game. He scored 3 of his 4 goals on TV!; after combine, didn’t get by anyone around the corner, downgrading;
28	511	Yes	Pavle Dundjer	UIC	Sr	AA 3rd Team; Horizon 1st team; 5g, 3a in 22/23 games; from Serbia birthdate: 6/14/84; mixed, not quick enough for wide midfielder; good shot; steady; after combine, shaky on 1st day, better on 2nd, I’m not sure how he’ll do at wide midfielder, not good enough to be AM, skeptical; downgrading;
29	513	No	Chris Cox	Hofstra	Sr	CAA 2nd team; 6g,1a in 11/15 games; from England-Birthdate: xx/xx/xx; 1st team CAA in 2005 and 2006; graduation of team mate Michael Todd hurt Cox; saw him last year and was thoroughly impressed with his play; he passes well and he is difficult to knock off the ball;
30	514	Yes	Chris Tierney	UVA	Sr	7g, 7a including 2 pk in 21 games; hard shot, physical player, above-average passing; against NC ST (regular season), “He is determined on second balls and has some skill. Although, I don’t have much hope for a player that can’t crack the starting lineup until his senior year.”; against BC (ACC), “In the 39th minute, he made a cracker of a shot that was unstoppable if not for a BC deflection for a corner kick.”;
31	515	Yes	Brennan Tennelle	UCSB	Sr	BigWest 1st Team; 2g, 3a; Very quick reminds me of Clyde Simms (DCU); He’s played DM and wide. In my game notes, I recorded that he was making hard tackles against SMU. But against New Mexico, his play was lackadaisacal and replete with bad passes/touches. His technical skills may hinder his chances, but his speed/quickness will help him.; against UCI (TV), “produces high pressure and hard tackles, picked up a yellow because of ill-timed tackle. nice touch on a UCI defensive misplay to free Pontius for the 4th goal.”;
32	516	Yes	Brian Grazier	St. Louis	Sr	1g, 4a in 13/13 games; tall, physical player; against Duke, “didn’t have an impact, except for a pair of 2nd hand shots”; against GW, “Grazier didn’t show a lot.”; former member of U17; he’ll need a big combine; after combine, didn’t look good out wide, was playing in the center midfield when 4 goals were scored. downgrading;
33	517	Yes	Ben Shuleva	SMU	Sr	CUSA 1st Team; 3g, 1a; came back from a late 2006 ACL injury (which may have impacted his game early in 2007); against New Mexico, “Shuleva plays defensive midfield in the classic 4-4-2 diamond midfield. He’s a good tackler. Solid college player. However, there are many DM in college soccer that are better. (see note about ACL)”; against Washington, “Allen made a bad tackle on SMU captain Ben Shuleva that was called a foul that could have been a yellow. Of course, Shuleva and Dane Saintus felt the need to push Allen several times. The ref didn’t feel it necessary to admonish the SMU players.”; against KY (TV), very heady, very steady. Good distributor and good tackle. Took a crushing shot that hit the crossbar from 35 yards. Strong on the ball”; after combine, hurt on 1st day did not return; dropping slightly
34	518	Yes	Simon Schoendorf	South Florida	Sr	7g,12a in 18/18 games; good passer; born in Germany 8/1/85;
35	519	No	Kyle McHugh	Princeton	Sr	Ivy 1st Team; 7g,1a in 16/16 games; 4 year starter; Will be joining marines after graduating; completed OCS (Officer Candidate School) in summer of 2007; Josh Gross did the same, right?
36	2000	Yes	Diego Barrera	New Mexico	Sr	MPSF 2nd Team; 2g, 8a; transfer from Loyola-Marymount; against Wash, “”Diego Barrera wasn’t effective up top. He didn’t really connect with anything that Chris Wright was doing. The only that I noted was that in the 24th minute, Barrera one touched it to Joey Viagliano that led to a shot that was blocked. Also, Barrera heeled the ball to Wright in the box but it was stolen by UCSB Taylor Muellar.”"; against UCSB, “”The winning goal was produced by Diego Barrera in the 82nd minute. It started with a corner kick that Berrera passed to an inattentive Brown near midfield. In a moment of panic (some may say clarity), Brown booted the ball toward the goal but it was cleared by UCSB. NM midfielder, Joey Vitagliano gathered the clearance and crossed the ball back into the penalty area. Barrera after the corner kick had wandered up the end line to flick in Vitagliano’s cross for the winning goal. Barrera had a terrific game. He was much better than Friday’s game. Today, he made some very dangerous plays and had many more touches. In the 48th minute, he took a free kick, passing it square to Stephen Brown, who took his time because UCSB didn’t pressure him, driving his shot low and hard, but wide. In the 65th minute, he stole the ball at midfield, drove the ball down the field and crossed the ball to an open Wright. Wright shot the ball high from 18 yards. Professional assessment – perhaps, but not likely. He might make it into camp, but if he makes a roster (which I doubt), he’ll be reserve fodder only. He’ll need a terrific combine.”";
37	2001	Yes	Tomek Charowski	Duke	Sr	1g, 2a in 9/17 games; good dribbling; he made some good moves against SLU; not impressive enough
38	2002	Yes	Luke Sassano	California	Sr	PAC10 1st team; 1g,5a in 16/17 games; 3 year starter; against VT, “worked well in the center of the field with Jacobson. Sassano might surprise some at the combine. He’s got good technical skills.”; after combine, left technical skills in Cali; passing/trapping awful; worse off he doesn’t link well; he was much better against VT; downgrading significantly
39	2005	No	Brian Kuritzky	Cornell	Sr	Ivy 1st Team; 8g, 2a in 14/15 games; transfer from Skidmore;
40	2010	Yes	Dane Murphy	UVA	Sr	1g,0a in 21 games; DM; better options exist. He’s tall, but is a liability with the ball
41	3000	Yes	Mick Galeski	Eastern Illinois	Sr	MVC 1st team; 8g,12a in 21/21 games; from England birthdate: xx/xx/xx; 4 year starter; against Lipscomb, “EIU GK, Mark Hansen, started the play by transitioning very quickly with a long pass to Brad Earl on the far side who fed Peters. Peters took a touch and then led Jim Adee who freed Mick Galeski behind the defense who scored with a good strike that essentially ended the contest.”;
42	3001	Yes	Ryan Cordeiro	UConn	Sr	BigEast 2nd team; 8g,10a in 23/23 games; large player, adequate technical skills? I’m not sure; after combine, not interested, head down not able to defend well; downgrading
43	3002	Yes	Scott Spangler	Virginia Tech	Sr	1g,5a in 15/20 games; against SJU, “good speed and competent on the ball. When Spangler got hurt at the beginning of the second half, it provided the weakness that SJU exploited.”; Mixed feelings about his competency.
44	3003	Yes	Drew DeGurian	Bradley	Sr	MVC 1st team; 8g,7a in 22/22 games; against MD (NCAA), “Hickman sent in a shot that freshman goal keeper Will Swaim dropped. Stephen Brust swung wildly and missed, the ball bounced to Drew DeGurian who finished strongly from 5 yards.”; against UNC, “DeGurian took a long throw-in that bounced twice in the box before Chris Cutshaw acrobatically, knocked in a bicycle kick from 6 yards to even the score.” and “started off the second half with a rocket that was saved by the cross bar. He had the only shot for BU in the first half, a header in the 7th minute that went wide “; early in the year against Belmont, “Bradley’s Teddy Anderson crossed the ball from the corner onto Drew DeGurian’s head that he snapped down with authority into the lower part of the Belmont goal. Impressive goal with DeGurian’s soaring header.” and “DeGurian is the key to Bradley’s success. He needs to be involved for good things to occur. He has a long throw in. He scored both goals and was all over the field. At best, he’ll make a MLS roster. I will see him 2 more times next week at the Wake Forest tournament. Let’s see how he does against quality ACC competition. At this point, I don’t think that he’ll be drafted.”;
45	3004	TV	Corey Curnutte	Bucknell	Sr	Patriot 1st team; 4g,2a in 19/19 games; 4 year starter; against Lehigh (TV), “rock in the central midfield, reads the game well. Had a terrific shot late that was deflected just wide. Hard tackler. Probably not fast enough to play central midfield in MLS. Move back to defense?”.
46	3005	Yes	Derek Hobson	Pennsylvania	Sr	Ivy 2nd Team; 3g,4a 15/16 games; 4 year starter;
47	3006	TV	Tony Schmitz	Creighton	Sr	MVC 1st team; 4g,5a in 20/20 games; 3 year starter;
48	3008	No	Tom Gray	Monmouth	Sr	NEC 2nd team; 6g,4a in 19/19 games; almost 4 year starter; assist productivity waned with the graduation of Steven Holloway last year.
49	3010	Yes	Marcus Reed	Virginia Tech	Sr	2g, 3a in 16/18; The addition of more talented players has been at the expense to Reed’s minutes; I don’t think he’ll be anything more than reserve fodder ; adequate speed and touch – just nothing special. Against Cal, “gave critical pass to Campbell for Campbell’s first goal”;
50	3012	No	Kevin Van Den Berg	Coastal Carolina	Sr	BigSouth 1st team; 4g, 8a in 11/18 games;
51	3013	No	Brett Gardner	Oregon State	Sr	PAC10 Honorable Mention; 1g,2a in 19/20 games; 4 year starter;
52	5000	No	Danleigh Borman	Rhode Island	Sr	A10 2nd team; 1g; 7a; from South Africa Birthdate: 1/27/85; from 2006 against George Washington, “Borman is the key to the URI attack. He plays out on the left midfield. Probably to limit the number of hits that he would take in the middle of the field. He has tremendous speed and dribbling skill that caused GW problems all day. However, his crossing is pathetic. If he hits his crosses, URI will score 3 goals against just about any team in the country. He has good short passing skill, just not the touch on the cross. Like many of the URI players, he’s an international (hailing from South Africa) which will limit his MLS value. The first goal was a good example of Borman at his best, he beat his defender to the corner, crossed the ball past the goal mouth to the far post where Mellen hit a diving header across the box where an awaiting Gonsalves deflected it in from 3 yards.”;
53	5001	Yes	Franklin Elimbi	Radford	Sr	BigSouth 1st Team; 4g, 0a; From Cameroon-Birthdate: XX/XX/XX; against VMI, “Elimbi is a dynamic player that is the key to the Radford attack. He has good ball skills but holds the ball too long combine well. VMI doesn’t pressure Elimbi giving him free rein to pick apart the VMI defense.” and “Elimibi sent a long pass in the “jet stream” that went 40 yards onto the foot of Husadzinovic. He brought the ball down silently, dribbling into the box with tacit pressure. He hooked the ball around the defender into the side netting for a beautiful goal.”;
54	5004	No	Dustin Awe	Evansville	Sr	MVC 1st team; 5g, 5a in 19/20 games;
55	5006	Yes	Stephen Brust	Bradley	Sr	MVC 2nd team; 5g,3a in 22/24 games; transferred from Cedarville University; starter for 2 years; he play hard defense; not confident that he can make a MLS roster, but has desire;
56	5008	TV	Justin Wolf	Bucknell	Sr	Patriot 2nd team; 5g,5a in 19/19 games; almost 4 year starter; “terrific dribble and cross to set up the second goal. Works hard”;
57	5009	No	McCoy Livingston	Appalachian St	Sr	SoCon 2nd Team; 5g,0a in 17/17 games; 3 year starter;
58	5010	No	Daniel Antunez	Hartford	Sr	AmerEast 1st Team; 3g,4a in 17/17 games; transferred from Lon Morris
59	5014	No	Kevin Meyer	Fordham	Sr	A10 2nd team; 4g, 3a in 18/18 games; 4 year starter and leading scorer in 2006.
60	5015	No	Tannen Wels	San Diego	Sr	WCC 1st Team; 4g,2a in 18/19 games; 2 year starter for SD after transferring from Santa Clara after freshmen year;
61	5016	No	Ryan Zabinski	Robert Morris	Sr	NEC 1st team (third time); 2g,5a in 17/18 games; 4 year starter;
62	5017	No	Alex Elias	Middlebury	Sr	D3 AA 1st Team; NESCAC 1st Team; 1g,4a in 22/22 games; Div3 champions
63	5019	No	Keith Gorczyca	Drake	Sr	MVC 2nd team; 6g,0a in 19/19 games; 4 year starter;
64	5020	No	Travis MacKenzie	Duquesne	Sr	A10 2nd team; 5g, 4a in 16/17 games;
65	5021	No	Josh Swett	Manhattan	Sr	MAAC 1st Team; 4g,2a (1pk) in 18/19 games; starter for 3 years; red shirt as a junior (2005);
66	5022	No	Zeke Dombrowski	Wisconsin – Milwaukee	Sr	Horizon 1st team; 4g, 3a in 20/20 games; starter for 3.5 years; career year for goals and assists;
67	5023	TV	Anthony Sepe	Lafayette	Sr	Patriot 1st team; 2g,5a in 18/18 games; 2 year starter; against Colgate (TV), “very active – I would characterize him as pesky. Takes all set pieces (throws and kicks). His corners aren’t driven, more like lofted. Dribbles well”;
68	6000	Yes	David Gualdarama	New Mexico	Sr	MPSF 2nd Team; 2006 MPSF 1st Team; 1g, 0a; against Washington, played defensive midfield without being noteworthy; against UCSB, “played more attacking midfield, took a shot after a long buildup earning a corner kick;
69	6001	No	Matt Narode	Binghamton	Sr	AmerEast 2nd Team; 3g,2a in 15/15 games;
70	6002	Yes	Danilo Schiavon	Quinnipiac	Sr	NEC 1st team; 6g,3a in 16/17 games; from Brazil birthdate: xx/xx/xx ; against Mount Saint Mary’s, “I wasn’t impressed with senior forward Danilo Schiavon (Brazil). He doesn’t add enough to consider for an international slot.”; transferred from S. Georgia Junior College; Didn’t play in 2005; Pass
71	6004	Yes	Steve Kalan	Akron	Sr	MAC 1st team; 2g, 5a in 21/21 games; against WF, “Akron has an experienced defensive line (3 seniors and a junior), but I wasn’t impressed with their play.”; against UNC, “Akron Coach, Caleb Porter, needs to evaluate how his senior laden defense gets shredded for 6 goals in 2 games.”; played right midfield against unc and wf
72	6005	No	Adam Montgomery	Memphis	Sr	C-USA 2nd team; 1g,0a in 19/19 games; started most of games for 4 years;
73	6006	No	Chris Wey	IUPUI	Sr	Summit 2nd team; 3g,5a in 15/15 games; 3 year starter;
74	6008	Yes	Ian Schinelli	Belmont	Sr	Atlantic Sun Conf 2nd Team; 2g,2a in 14/15 games; consistent 4 year starter; against Bradley, “[his] goal was an individual achievement… He received the ball at the top of the box and tracked right diagonally toward the end line and the corner of the penalty area, trying to get off a shot unsuccessfully. He was finally able to take a shot at an acute angle that passed by the Bradley GK for a goal. He looks like Moojen. He’s a very good player.”; problem is that he doesn’t score alot for a forward;
75	6009	Yes	Joey Vitagliano	New Mexico	Sr	MPSF Honorable Mention; 2006 MPSF 3rd team; 1g, 2a; plays wide right midfield; against Washington, “Vitagliano was able to get forward and press the attack taking 2 shots (both in 24th minute). I don’t consider him a MLS quality candidate.”; against UCSB, “Vitagliano gathered the clearance and crossed the ball back into the penalty area. Barrera after the corner kick had wandered up the end line to flick in Vitagliano’s cross for the winning goal.”;
76	6010	No	Dawid Badecki	Rhode Island	Sr	0g, 3a; Polish Birthdate: 3/30/84; In 2006 against George Washington, “Badecki is a solid center midfielder, making the easy pass, holding possession. He makes his team better. He’s also a solid in the air. His goal was a full volley into the top left hand corner of the goal from his countrymen, Tumicz, who had taken the ball from a throw-in to the touch line before crossing the ball to 10 yards. GW GK had no chance.”; With his stats, he will have a hard time being invited to a combine. Unless NE coach, Steve Nicol has already scouted him, I doubt we’ll see him again.
77	6011	No	Colin Jennings	San Diego	Sr	WCC 2nd Team; 5g,3a in 19/20 games; SD started only senior year after transferring from San Diego State after his sophomore year;
78	6012	No	Ryan Imamura	Stanford	Sr	PAC10 Honorable Mention; 0g,0a in 18/18 games; not a starter until senior year; transfer from Cornell after freshman year;
79	6013	No	Keum Sung Kim	Loyola (Chi)	Sr	Horizon 2nd team; 4g,0a in 19/19 games; 3 year starter; stats lacking;
80	6014	TV	Mike Tilley	Lafayette	Sr	Patriot 2nd team; 3g,0a in 18/18 games; 3.5 year starter; against Colgate (TV), “good defensive stops, not enough of him”;
81	6015	No	Jason Laffin	Siena	Sr	MAAC 2nd Team;2g,7a (1pk) in 19/19 games; 3 year starter;
82	6017	No	Mahamadou Simpara	Stony Brook	Sr	AmerEast 2nd Team; 4g,1a in 18/19 games; born in Mali birthdate: 5/2/82; transferred from Bryant and Stratton college
83	6018	No	Michael Millar	Monmouth	Sr	NEC 1st team; 1g,3a in 19/19 games; missed 2005; transferred from Philadelphia U after 2004; starter in 2006
84	6020	No	Dustin Guerrero	San Diego	Sr	1g,3a in 18/19 games; starter for 3 years;
85	8000	TV	Tim Bohnenkamp	Creighton	Sr	MVC 2nd team; 2g,6a in 17/20 games; not a consistent starter until senior year;
86	8002	Yes	Erik Ortega	Wisconsin	Sr	1g,0a in 8/19 games; Plays in all 2007 Wisconsin games, but isn’t a regular starter – not too highly ranked;
87	8005	Yes	Scott Corbin	SMU	Sr	CUSA 3rd team; 1g, 3a; wide right midfielder; against UCSB, “1st H free kick badly taken from 22 yards with a minute to play; 2nd H better free kick, but Grant’s shot was wide”; against Washington, “Corbin had a shot in the 13th minute that Washington GK Fung dove to save.”; slim possibilities; against KY (TV), didn’t start, didn’ make much of an input in his 5 minutes!”;
88	8006	Yes	Ken Hickman	Bradley	Sr	2g, 2a in 8/22 games; Not a MLS quality midfielder;
89	8007	No	Lati Ziba	Wisconsin – Green Bay	Sr	Horizon 2nd team; 0g,1a in 21/21 games; only starter for last 2 years.
90	8008	Yes	Callum Thomas	Richmond	Sr	1g, 1a; from Scotland – Birthdate: 7/18/85; not nearly good enough as a US citizen; out of the question as an international; PASS
91	8010	No	Troy Simon	USC Upstate	Sr	Atlantic Sun Conf 2nd Team; 2g,2a in 17/17 games; knee injury in 2006; from Antigua birthdate: 7/20/80 (yes he’s already 27yo!) – Pass
92	8011	No	John Daniele	Marshall	Sr	C-USA 3rd team; 1g,2a in 17/17 games; after sitting out 2006 with medical hardship, continued his inadequate scoring;
93	8015	No	Pasquale Abuiso	Iona	Sr	MAAC 2nd Team; 2g,4a in 20/20 games; part time starter before senior year
94	8022	No	Ryan Oakes	Portland	Sr	0g, 3a in 15/19 games; injured for much of 2006; starter in 2005 and 2007;
95	8025	No	Loren Hill	Vermont	Sr	2g,1a in 22/22 games; transferred from Oregon State before 2006; hadn’t scored before this year;
96	8026	No	Martin Castro	Wisconsin – Milwaukee	Sr	1g, 2a in 16/19 games; starter for last 2 years;
97	8027	No	Abiola Sandy	Bowling Green	Sr	MAC 2nd team; 5g,0a in 18/18 games;
98	8029	No	Skyler Thuresson	Cal State Fullerton	Sr	BigWest Honorable Mention; 2g,0a in 19/20 games; very short, unproductive;
99	8040	No	Jordan Mault	George Mason	Sr	1g,0a in 1/11 games; bit player; studying business/pre-law – good luck in those endevours;
100	8050	No	Diego Monsalve	Florida Atlantic	Sr	ASC 2nd Team; 1g (on pk),1a in 15/19 games; wasn’t permanent starter all 4 years nor a prolific scorer; from Peru: birthdate-2/27/83; not likely to be a pro

 

2008 MLS Draft: Defender Rankings

[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 defenders. I’ll follow this with rankings of midfielders, forwards and over-all. The number of games started versus the number of games played is written as “15/18 games” (15 games started of 18 games played).

Enjoy!

Pos. #	Pos. Rank	See in 07?	Name	College	Yr	Comment
1	5	Yes	Julius James	UConn	Sr	AA 1st team; BigEast 1st team; BigEast Def POTY; 2g,1a in 23/23 games; From Trinidad, birthdate: 7/9/84; against USF (NCAA), “James plays a very smart game. His understanding and technical skills are superb.”; after combine; showed that he can go forward, play wide; cemented his spot at the top (1 or 2);
2	14	Yes	Sean Franklin	Cal State Northridge	Sr	BigWest 1st team; 1g,0a in 8/8 games hurt in off-season came back to finish – good sign; toured with U23 team in summer of 2007; before 2007 started every game since his red shirt freshman year;
3	18	Yes	Jon Leathers	Furman	Sr	AA 2nd Team; 2 SoCon POTY; 1g,1a in 23/23 games; 4 year starter; against UNCG (SoCon final),”he is a slight central defender. His game is predicated upon positioning, quickness and his outstanding reading of the game. He’s impressive. He doesn’t go forward often instead he prefers to sit back waiting to defend. His game is similar to Stephen King (UMD – very subtle. He gets himself in good position to make the play before the play gets to him.”; after combine, 1 of players who impressed me the most; speed, savvy on the ball, can play wide, a little small, clearance were spotty; Upgrading;
4	20	Yes	Eric Brunner	Ohio State	Sr	AA 1st team; 2 time B10 1st Team; 6g,0a in 23/23; Transferred from MD after freshman year;”; At B10 (IU Final), “Senior Eric Brunner is a tall central defender. It will be interesting to watch him at the combine. “; after combine, played well, even played out wide which was a surprise. Didn’t embarrass himself.; upgrading
5	22	Yes	Chance Myers	UCLA	So	GA; P10 1st Team; 3g, 0a in 21/21 games; against ND, “Zaher got a free kick from just inside his own half. With 33 seconds left, he floated a ball into the box that ND goal keeper, Chris 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 IU, “Chance Myers is taking over for Sal Zizzo’s departure on the outside midfield. He’s Mike Zaher’s favorite target on long diagonal passes with his leaping ability. Also, he’s fearless running at people. Myers could be a break out player this year.”; after combine, showed ability to get forward, good defense, strength – dribbling rusty. He might be better as wide midfield – but I hold this opinion by myself….
6	45	No	Rob Valentino	San Francisco	Sr	GA; injured in 2007; in 2006 against Penn State from my pre-season write-up, “He didn’t really impress me on the defensive side. This might be more due Penn State’s incompetent attack than a deficiency on Valentino’s part. He did have a very pretty assist. From a free kick, Valentino launched a 40 yard high ball to LA Galaxy draft pick, Kevin Long, for a wonderful leaping header goal.”; Will he be able to fully return from his injury?; I may upgrade him….
7	48	Yes	Rauwshan McKenzie	Michigan State	Sr	B10 1st team; 2g, 2a in 21/21 games; In B10 (PSU), “central defender Rauwshan McKenzie is a MLS quality defender. His best attribute is his athletic ability. He’s a target in the air on set pieces. He’s a good 1v1 defender. He did have a poor clearance with his head in OT. My only question is his individual ball skills. Can he pass under pressure?”. In B10 (IU), “McKenzie was solid in the back. In the waning minutes of the game with MSU down, McKenzie went forward.”; after combine, wonderful in the middle – challenged wide; doesn’t cleanly settle ball quick enough;
8	50	Yes	Adrian Chevannes	SMU	Sr	CUSA 1st Team; 2g, 1a; Imposing defender that can get forward; When Chevannes left the game, SMU defense was noticably different; against UCSB, “In the 27th minute, RB Chevannes limped off and did not return. This was a turning point of the game, because earlier in the half Chevannes would clean up anything that was put into the left side of the UCSB offensive attack.” and “After Chevannes left, I wrote in my notes, that SMU defenders were letting the ball get over their heads. Barely 5 minutes later, UCSB scores from a long pass (albeit from a long pass but not over their heads) but with an open Nunez in the box.”; He did not play against Washington. against KY (TV), “played centrally because of yellow card accumulation of regular center back. Made a 60 yard run, ending with crushing shot that was saved only by a marvelous effort by GK. He covers the opponents best man in the air on CK. Good tackler and good going forward.”; after combine, absolutely horrible combine; I swear his non-soccer playing twin showed up; downgrading slightly;
9	52	Yes	Ryan Miller	Notre Dame	Sr	AA 2nd Team; Big East 1st Team; 6g 4a in 23/23 ; against UCLA, “demonstrated bravery running at defenders.”; against Gtown, “Miller has good speed and was not challenged by Gtown. He’s dangerous going forward. He has professional potential. I’d like to watch him again.”; after combine, showed his speed and the ability to play wide (a scarcity in this draft). upgrading;
10	57	Yes	David Horst	Old Dominion	Sr	CAA 2 time Defensive POTY; CAA 1st Team; 0g, 2a; Big, Strong with terrific defensive understanding; against MD, “Hall used his speed to go around David Horst near the ODU corner where a slower MD player would have had no choice but to concede the goal kick” and “Horst is going to be a MLS defender. He’s has the body, the understanding and sufficient speed to play professionally. Now, the only question remaining is what round will he be drafted. I can see 2nd or 3rd depending upon what underclassmen come out as well.”; against James Madison, “He’s solid in the back. I question his speed. He is certainly tall and thick enough. He seems to read the game well. In the second half, Horst dribbled the ball into open space attacking JMU before an undisciplined attacker jumped offsides. He seems to make the safe pass, to his outside defenders than more aggressive passing. It makes me wonder if he has confidence in his passing. At this point, I’m thinking 3rd round.”; Against Towson, “Horst plays very similar to Bobby Boswell (without the web site). He wins headers though his ability to turn and chase quick forwards continues to be a question. He picked up a cheap yellow (mouth). He needs to learn to keep his emotions in check.”; against Drexel, “Horst is a beast in the back. Speed is his primary deficiency. If he’s paired with a mobile defender, he’ll do fine in MLS. He is probably a 2nd-3rd rounder. He doesn’t have good dribbling skills. However, he can step around a single defender at times.”; after the combine, generally pretty good – good thinker, beast in the air, solid base, speed issues
11	58	Yes	Andy Iro	UCSB	Sr	AA 2nd Team; BigWest Def POTY; BigWest 1st Team; 1g; English birthdate-11/26/1984; only 1 year before senior international; tall and athletic; against SMU, “Two time All-American Andy Iro was beaten for the SMU goal (see below for a description). Last year against Akron (in a game that UCSB won 5-0), I wasn’t enamored with his play. His fitness was questionable; His dribbling was deficient; His off the ball anticipation was lacking. However, at today’s game, he was winning headers, anticipating passes, stealing those passes and starting the attacks. Also, he was strong on the ball – very difficult to knock off. I am still skeptical that he won’t be another David Stokes. I’ll watch him more closely against New Mexico on Sunday.”; against New Mexico, “Iro is a coach killer. He has tremendous athletic ability, a modicum of dribbling ability (but loses the ball way too easily) and he’s a tall powerful player. Iro loses his mark too easily. For example, in the 53rd minute, NM junior Jack Smithson served in a cross to an open NM Chris Wright (that Iro was supposedly marking) that Wright crushed with his head that Bryant Rueckner saved. 10 minutes later, Iro stepped over to stop Barrera but in this instance he needed to stop the ball, but he didn’t stay between the ball and Wright (his old mark). This shot was wide. A professional forward finishes these opportunities. In the 43rd minute, Iro took a questionable shot from midfield that the goal keeper easily caught without UCSB pressure. Such a bad play, he wasn’t credited with a shot. In the 60th minute, Iro received a pass from O’Brien on a 30 yard free kick that Iro crushed way over the cross bar. Iro did have a highlight. He won a header at midfield with authority and power over Chris Wright in the 68th minute, but he hurt his knee/ankle coming down.”; Pass; against UCI (TV), “good aggressive defense stepping up; power in air (6′5″), showed strength holding off attackers, was able to get forward in the first half combining on the ground, but his shot takes too long to strike and is easily defended.”; after the combine, had a steady combine. If I hadn’t seen the way that he was playing last year (possible injury) and against NM this year, I’d be seriously reconsidering. Upgrading;
12	96	Yes	Matt Britner	Brown	Sr	Canadian, 4/17/1985, Ivy Conference POTY; 1st team All-Ivy; 0g,1a in 15/16 games; former Canadian U20; Against Rutgers,”I like his play, but his play is very quiet. He isn’t a flashy player. After just 1 game against a middling attacking team, my assessment is incomplete. I watched him for long periods of the second half and came away non-commital. He has a good first touch and good passing, but he didn’t need to make the killer pass.”; after combine, “smart player, not used to playing wide, but may be able to in the future; upgrading just a bit;
13	98	Yes	Tony Beltran	UCLA	Jr	GA; P10 1st Team; starter on U20 US team; 0g, 2a in 21/21 games; against Poland (U20), “either Beltran was not in position to prevent the killer ball by Tomasz Cywka or did not sufficiently, aggressively attack Tomasz Cywka to cut the angle (your choice) – probably the latter is more accurate.”; against Austria (U20), “Beltran continues to be consistently bad. He’s had a few moments of adequacy, but overall I’ve seen enough.”; against IU, “wasn’t effective with his ball skills making numerous unforced errors.” against ND, “Just like the U20 tourney, Tony Beltran is still consistently erratic with his passing.”; rating artificially inflated because of his GA status; after combine, injured; others bypassed him; downgrading slightly;
14	100	TV	Jamil Roberts	Santa Clara	Sr	WCC 1st Team; WCC Def POTY; 3g,5a in 22/22 games; 4 year starter; suffered elbow injury in 2005; missed 7 games; against USF (TV), “bad game for the D-POTY, his bad touch allowed the USF transition to create their goal. His subsequent defensive positioning on the play was insufficient, good athleticism”;
15	104	Yes	Michael Zaher	UCLA	Sr	PAC10 1st team; 3g, 3a; against Notre Dame, “Zaher got a free kick from just inside his own half. With 33 seconds left in the game, he floated a ball into the box that ND goal keeper, Chris 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” and “Zaher had some wonderful runs beating 2 defenders before springing a diagonal pass to an offside attacker. Need to look at him closely. Kind of reminds me of Michael Harrington (former UNC)/KC starting left back.”; followed by against IU, “Zaher is accurate with his free kicks. He might be a MLS candidate . Kind of reminds me of Harrington, but not as fast, strong or good.”; after combine, pretty poor showing for Zaher, never got forward, had problems rotating over defensively; his long diagonals were meaningless; downgrading;
16	105	Yes	Brandon Owens	UCLA	Sr	PAC10 Honorable Mention; 0g, 0a; Not sure he got to be honorable mention after starting less than 1/2 the games, he’s been battling a knee sprain this year, after missing 2006 from ACL. May be worth a low speculative draft pic. He did not play at the beginning of the season (where I watched UCLA). after combine, undetermined….
17	145	Yes	Pat Phelan	Wake Forest	Sr	AA 1st team; ACC 1st team; 2g 4a in 22games; played DM by the end of the year because freshman Ika Opera was game ready; Too slow to play DM in pros. I expect that he’ll play central defense if at all; against Bradley early in the year with Phelan returning from injury, “Phelan started and looked to be a steady influence, distributing the ball quite nicely. He led Tracy with a long pass into the box that Bradley GK made an awesome save.” after combine, has technical skills, reads game well. Has to compensate for lack of speed;
18	149	Yes	Scott Bolkan	Stanford	Sr	PAC10 1st team; 3g,1a in 18/18 games; 3.5 year starter; after combine, big tall rangy player, gets up well; hurt his hand on 1st day returned for second; shakey in the back on 3rd day; moving down;
19	150	Yes	Tim Jepson	Duke	Sr	ACC 2nd Team; 0g, 1a in 10/10 games; Big, mobile defender; hurt for half this season; against UNC in the ACC tourney, he played well. Haven’t seen him enough
20	152	Yes	Joe Donoho	Bradley	Sr	AA 3rd Team; 1st Team All-MVC and POTY for MVC; 6g,3a in 25/25 games; transferred from Rutgers; Had a very serious achilles injury; Donoho is a tall, player who can run well. He distributes the ball well and takes many of the Bradley set pieces. He plays a sweeper position, while he has marked man-to-man when needed, I wonder if his achilles would hold up with the rigors of MLS. I talked to folks at Rutgers who mentioned that he was a good student and a hard worker and a generally kid. against Belmont, “winds up taking many of the long free kicks (and quite adeptly too). He’s got an accurate long free kick.”; against UNC, “good balance and didn’t permit the speedy Eddie Ababio to go by him. He’s starting to impress me. His 1v1 defense was pretty good.”; against WF, “moved up top (from his normal sweeper position) to try and get his head on a long ball, but he was unable to run and be active. I like the way he sweeps and he can pass accurately. I wonder if his previously injured achilles problem (while at Rutgers) is durable enough to mark 1v1 for an extended period of time. I would like to see how he does in the combine. He could be a sleeper. He could be a bust.”;
21	153	Yes	Andre Sherard	UNC	Sr	ACC 2nd team; 0g,0a in 20/20; a small but speedy central defender who has exceptional athleticism; against Duke (ACC), “I watched Andre Sherard specifically for a considerable time. He gets himself into position to make plays. At times, it seems that he’s coasting. He has read the play and is ready for it to develop. He has tremendous speed and has sufficient athletic ability to mark 6′7″ Paul Dudley.”; after combine, passing woeful – takes too long to strike the ball, easy to defend his clearance; wasn’t able to shut down anyone. Not sure he can play wide; downgrading;
22	154	Yes	Charles Traylor	Indiana	Sr	0g,3a in 22/22 games; Against OSU (Big10 Final), “Traylor was able to neutralize dangerous left midfielder Roger Espinoza in the first half. I really like Traylor’s crosses.”; I like his ball skills from the back.
23	201	Yes	Hugh Cronin	NC State	Sr	0g,3a in 17/17 games; plays both DM and central defense – I think he might be best acclimated for back; against UVA (regular season), “Hugh Cronin is not a MLS quality defensive midfielder. He’s a nice college player.”; against UMD, “Cronin made several good tackles that stopped additional opportunities. He impressed me – however, I am not sure if he was to blame for the goals without another look. I’ll need to watch him at the ACC tournament to see if he has MLS potential. At best, he is worth a shot as a supplemental pick.” & “Stephen King was able to take a pass from Yannick Salmon that he flicked over NCST goal keeper that was heading to the goal. Cronin hustled back and cleared the ball off the line, but the ball wound up with Drew Yates in the box and the GK out of position.”; Cronin was injured for the ACC tournament walking around in a soft cast. The combine will be essential for him.; after combine, while never a burner, I wonder if the foot is slowing him down. I’m not sure. He’s smart. I like him. upgrade just a tiniest bit.
24	207	Yes	Yomby William	Old Dominion	Sr	CAA 2nd Team; Cameroon citizen, birthdate: 6/18/81 (not a mistake); against MD, “William made an exploratory run from his central defense position to 35 yards from the MD goal. He delivered a lead pass to an unmarked Steffan Sommerstad.” and “He’s got good athletism and complements Horst very well. His speed is noteworthy. Last year against UNCG, I liked his play as well. I doubt that he’ll be drafted because he was born in 1981 which would make him a senior international. USL may be interested in him though.”; In the other matches, his play was consistent with the MD game. He’s a good player, but just too old for a rookie.; after combine, hasn’t had the best combine. Seems to have started tentative. His passing which is his strong suit is sadly lacking. He directly benefits from the removal of the YI designation and the additional international. holding steady;
25	209	Yes	Julian Valentin	Wake Forest	Sr	USA U20 starter; 3g, 2a in 17games ;good in the air; good defender and reads the game well; quickness and speed questionable; against Clemson (ACC), “The second goal was scored by senior defender Julian Valentin in the 89th minute with the score 1-1 at the time. Valentin played his normal steady defense.”; against UNC (ACC), “Valentin gave sophomore forward Bill Dworsky too much space right outside of his penalty area. I wonder if he wanted to ensure that Dworsky (who is slow) not to get by him. This could be problematic.”; after combine, “what I expected – compensates for speed by giving ground, exposed by faster Brea, fouls, leaves game with stitches to the face”; downgrading;
26	210	Yes	Cameron Lewis	UNC	Sr	0g,0a in 15/20 games; Competent defender; ball skills lacking; shot hard; Against Akron, “Outside defender, Cameron Lewis, continues to shoot with power and accuracy from the outside. He needs to concentrate with the ball at his feet – he was dispossessed because of poor body position.”
27	211	Yes	Stephen Reiner	Penn State	Sr	0g,4a in 19/19 games; In B10 (MSU), Reihner is a potential MLS right back. He didn’t have a flawless game (against MSU), but he did adequate. He can make defensive stops. He has a good shot. He makes overlapping runs and frequently switches into the central midfield. I like him. If he has a good combine, he’s worthy of a low draft pick.
28	212	No	Iradj Farahmand II	Loyola (Chi)	Sr	Horizon 1st team; Horizon Defense POTY; 0g, 0a in 18/18 games; 4 year starter
29	406	Yes	Mark Buchholz	Clemson	Sr	3g, 3a in 14/19 games; saw several times, DM in college. “Mark Buchholz is a physical player who has a long throw in and a hard shot. He might not be athletic enough for the next level, but I’d give him a shot as a central defender.”
30	408	TV	Brandon McDonald	San Francisco	Sr	WCC 2nd Team; 2g,2a in 18/19 games; against Penn State in 2006, “a big guy who goes to ground too much to defend. Had to shake my head on one play, because McDonald didn’t turn his before receiving the pass; he immediately lost the ball. “; played a DM in 2006; MOVED from M to D after watching against Santa Clara, “Big body, good athlete; long throw; his bad touch allowed the first SC goal, inconsistent on the ball (at times dribbling well other times giving it up, same with passing, good in the air, Last goal, didn’t cover the shot well – wound up knocking it in with his hand;
31	500	No	Karl Schilling	UConn	Sr	1g,3a in 3/3 games; injured(knee) in 2007; would have anchored the central back with Julius James; might be worth a low-round draft pick to see how he heals.; if he fully recovers, he might become a MLS starter. Is the gamble worth a 4th round pick or supplemental? Probably!
32	508	No	Adam Chavez	Binghamton	Sr	2 time AmerEast 1st Team; AmerEast Def of the year; 1g,3a in 18/18 games; 3 year starter
33	510	Yes	Lucas Fernandez	Argentina	X	from Argentina, birthdate: 12/14/88; Not in draft list; kept here for ranking purposes; worst of the South Americans; seemed uninterested – petulant; doesn’t cover his mark very well, reminds me of Erpen but not as athletic.
34	519	Yes	John Gilkerson	Winthrop	Sr	BigSouth 1st Team (2nd time); against High Point, my notes reflect that he served a good free kick – but nothing that really made him stand out for that one match.
35	520	Yes	Jeff Stepan	St. Johns	Sr	BigEast 2nd team; 4g, 1a; against Virginia Tech, “Jeff Stepan got SJU on the board from a Mike Mingione cross that Alex Paszek deflected to Stepan with 13 minutes remaining in the game. At that point, SJU continued to press the attack trying without success to get the second goal. ; I like his athleticism. He will need a good showing at the combine.
36	522	No	Steve Bode	Wisconsin – Milwaukee	Sr	Horizon 1st team; 1g,0a in 19/19 games; 4 year started medical red shirt in sophomore year; 6′2″; scored 5 goals in 2005;
37	524	Yes	Tom Skara	Fairfield	Sr	MAAC 2nd Team; 2006 MAAC Def OTY; 0g,1a in 15/15 games; against Loyola, no negative or positive comment; 4 year starter
38	525	No	Yahaya Musa	Stony Brook	Sr	2 time AmerEast 1st Team; 0g,1a in 17/18 games; born in Australia – birthdate: 12/20/86; starter for 3 years
39	531	No	K.J. Lenehan	Cal Poly	Sr	BigWest 1st team; 0g,3a in 19/19 games; started for 2 1/2 years;
40	532	No	Ale Frischeisen	Dartmouth	Sr	Ivy 1st Team; 0g, 0a in 15/15 games; 3 year starter; 2006 year was cut short from injury;
41	533	Yes	Gregory Folk	UCLA	Sr	PAC10 Honorable Mention; 0g, 0a; against IU, “Folk made a long run into the corner beating several IU defenders and crossed that none of his teammates could convert.”; he’s slight – debatable the impact that he’ll have in pros. Worth a supplemental or camp invite.
42	535	No	Josh Howard	William Jewell	Sr	All-PDL team; 2nd team All conf NAIA; 1g,2a in 14 games;
43	540	No	Adam Sloustcher	Loyola Marymount	Sr	WCC 1st Team; 0g,1a in 19/19 starts; 2 year starter after transferring from UNC;
44	700	No	Paul Cain	UC-Davis	Sr	BigWest 2nd team; 1g,3a in 20/20 games; 4 year starter – 75 consecutive starts;
45	703	Yes	Matt Williams	UVA	Sr	0g,0a in 13 games; Small, accurate passer, determined defender; played just over half games because he was injured day-to-day with a mild knee sprain; against Virginia Tech, “From his left back position, he got forward linking with the wide midfielder (usually Villanueva) to provide width on the attack. In the 86th minute, he made a brave run to steal the VT goalkeeper’s throw, but his first touch was lacking and it went for a corner kick. I like the energy and effort.”
46	704	Yes	Mike Gelatt	Liberty	Sr	BigSouth 1st Team; 1a; Don’t know his age, but he has potential revenue advertising for the Hair Club (coming from someone who knows), touch can be rough, good clean tackler; against UNCA, “For the goal, the play started when junior goal keeper Phillip Horner crushed a wind assisted punt, Gelatt did not field the ball cleanly and Szymanski jumped on the mistake, leading to the lone UNCA goal”; against Loyola (NCAA), “A heroic diving header effort by Liberty senior defender Mike Gelatt with the ball traveling into the goal was deflected off the cross bar and bounced into the goal.”;
47	705	Yes	Spencer Allen	Maryland	Sr	1g,2a in 20/21 games; A consistent over-achiever; has played DM, but lately has been playing wide defender. Has good leaping ability for his size; Hard kid to bet against, but I’m skeptical if he has MLS quality
48	706	TV	Joe Mellott	Bucknell	Sr	Patriot 1st team; 0g,1a in 17/18 games; 4 year starter; against Lehigh (TV), “made crucial defensive stop against Lehigh’s talented forward Kyle Evans early. Good defender.”;
49	707	TV	Matt Hatzke	Santa Clara	Sr	WCC 2nd Team; 2g,3a in 20/22 games; 4 year starter; against USF (TV), active up the left sideline, good passer and dribbler, takes some FK, on USF goal, didn’t shut down entry allowing a good look for the cross.; after combine, has had a forgetable time, providing unacceptable defensive coverage in the first game; moving down
50	708	No	Brian Cocciolo	Jacksonville	Sr	Atlantic Sun Conf 1st Team; 1g,1a in 20/20 games; consistent starter for 4 years; 6′2″
51	715	No	Matt Tracy	Cal State Northridge	Sr	BigWest 1st team; 1g,1a in 18/18 games; 3 year starter
52	1050	No	Callum Bissett	Rhode Island	Sr	A10 2nd Team; 1g, 0a; from Scotland birthdate: 5/21/85
53	1055	Yes	Brandon Gasparovic	St. Louis	Sr	0g,0a in 12/17 games; with Viviano’s injury, Gasparovic got 12 starts; against GW, “Gasparovic had a pretty nice game. He’s calm on the ball and his first touch is sweet. If Viviano comes back for the NCAA tournament. This will probably limit Gasparovic’s minutes. He may fly under MLS radar and could be a good value proposition for a supplemental pick. I’ve only seen him against GW which isn’t the most dynamic attacking team. But, it’s a low risk pick since most supplemental picks don’t make the team out of camp, anyway.”;
54	1059	No	Brian Beckford	Oral Roberts	Sr	Summit 1st team; 0g,0a in 17/17 games; from Jamaica birthdate: 10/23/83; 2 year starter for Oral Roberts; transferred from a Jamaican college;
55	1060	Yes	Phillippe Bissohong	UMBC	Sr	1g,0a in 19/19 games; against Shepherd (spring 2007), “…played defensive midfield last fall, now he’s playing central defense. This is a good move for him. He’s athletic enough to have a shot in the defense. He has to get better organizing, understanding (the cerebral part of playing defense). I like his ball skills – though they need to continue developing. He’s got a shot.”; From Cameroon, but I’m unsure about his citizenship status; originally a walk-on after a couple of years from playing in high school.
56	1061	Yes	Michael Hessemer	Lehigh	Sr	0g,2a in 17/17 games; 2 year starter; Against AU, “He’s very composed. His touch needs tweaking. While it looks good, his touch needs to be tighter, because it causes him to rush on his passing when his touch isn’t quality. He’s a good tackler. He wound up playing central defense in the second half.”; Against MD, “I like the two outside defenders, seniors Michael Hessemer and Patrick Starsinic. They both have speed and ball skills. They both defend well.”; against Bucknell (TV), “burned on second goal by Wolf dribbling, didn’t close quick enough allowed the cross. Noticked that he seems to stand and watch the play rather than flowing with the play”;
57	1062	No	Michael Gavin	Portland	Sr	WCC 2nd Team; 2g,3a in 21/21 games; 4 year starter;
58	1063	Yes	David Worthen	UNCG	Sr	SoCon 2nd Team; 0g,2a in 21/21 games; 4 year starter; Has improved from last year, when I remarked that he was worthless. Don’t see him having MLS potential; after combine, started first game, injured did not return. Slight upgrade more on re-assessment than quality at combine
59	1069	Yes	Patrick Starsinic	Lehigh	Sr	0g,3a in 16/16 games; 3 year starter (not in his sophomore year?); Against MD, “I like the two outside defenders, seniors Michael Hessemer and Patrick Starsinic. They both have speed and ball skills. They both defend well. Starsinic stymied speedy Jeremy Hall.”; Against AU, “Starsinic had a brutal first half and better second half. His passing was pathetic early, but solidified in the second. He has good speed. Starsinic at 5′8″ was out-jumping 6′1″ Chinapoo. He’s someone that I’d like to see at the combine.”
60	1070	Yes	Bryan Moffa	UMBC	Sr	AmerEast 2nd Team; 0g,5a in 18/18 games; against Navy (spring 2007), “With 28 seconds to go in the game and UMBC pressing forward, Bryan Moffa made a crisp centering pass that cleared Kevin Gnatiko’s head but found Aaron Velky’s head into the goal from 6 yards out. Terrific play.”; plays right back;
61	1074	Yes	A.J. Kulp	Old Dominion	Sr	CAA 1st Team; 4g, 8a; against Maryland, “Doug Rodkey was getting around the corner on A. J. Kulp several times.”; against James Madison, “Kulp scored the second goal late in the second half with a well placed and well struck shot low into the far post netting from 15 yards.”; against Drexel, “In the 4 games that I’ve seen Kulp, this was his best game. He started in a wider position. This gave him more time to get running without having defenders converging on him from all sides. This was particularly effective in getting the ball into dangerous positions.”; I question that he’ll be successful in the pros. I liked former teammate Jared Kent more and he hasn’t set the world on fire.; after combine, not able to play left back sufficiently. His crosses are average at best (and this is his strongest part of his game). reclassified as a defender -
62	1075	No	Phil Duret	Western Illinois	Sr	Summit 2nd team; 2g,0a in 16/19 games; 3 year starter;
63	2046	No	Bryan Oelkers	Iona	Sr	MAAC 1st Team; 3g,5a in 20/20 games including 1 pk; 3 year starter – missed some games as sophomore, possible injury?;
64	2051	Yes	Kenny Cook	Massachusetts	Sr	A10 2nd Team; Tall (6′5″) organizing defender; 1g, 2a; against UIC, “a tall defender who naturally is tremendous in the air. He reminds me of FC Dallas (and former MD Terp) defender Clarence Goodson. But Cook is not as spindly. He’s worth watching against OSU.”; against OSU, “has weak foot skills. It takes him several touches to get the ball under control. I saw this several times. He covers the passing lanes very well and is good in the air.”;
65	2060	No	Luke Frieberg	Drake	Sr	MVC 1st team; 0g,2a in 20/20 games; 4 year starter;
66	2061	No	Liam Welsh	Siena	Sr	MAAC 1st Team; 0g,0a in 20/20 games; 4 year starter;
67	2067	TV	Dan Belke	Colgate	Sr	Patriot 1st team; 1g,2a in 20/20 games; almost 4 year starter; against Lafayette (TV), “had an assist (chest pass) off a free kick, had a few stops, but wasn’t involved in the back as others”;
68	3000	No	Daniel Scott	Gonzaga	Sr	WCC 2nd Team; 0g,0a in 18/19 games; 3 year starter that has had career marred with injuries;
69	3075	Yes	Greg Curry	UCSB	Sr	1g 5a; in 2 games didn’t have many notes about Curry – against New Mexico, “Pontius had the UCSB goal on a powerful header from a cross by Jon Curry in the 18th minute. “; [EDITOR] Yo dude, wrong Curry. Greg was hurt early in the year. Jon is his younger brother – blah!
70	3080	Yes	Zola Short	UVA	Sr	0g,0a in 21 games; This year moved from right back to center back, never looking comfortable; his play continued to degenerate throughout the year; against NC State, “looked absolutely exhausted in the 95 degree heat by the end of the game. With the toreador UVA defense in front of him, he was working very hard. Short is a competent defender in college.”; against VT, “This was not Zola Short’s best game. He misplayed a bouncing ball that turned into Virginia Tech’s goal. In the second half, he gave up an unneeded corner kick because of lack of patience (or confidence) to clear the ball. In the 88th minute, Short made a good tackle to send the game into OT.”; against MD, “In the 43rd minute, Stephen King humiliated Short 30 yards from goal on a beautiful move that absolutely froze Short. It was a Wow-wee moment!”;
71	3081	Yes	Kyle Grato	Rutgers	Sr	1g, 0a in 16/18 games; didn’t impress against Brown
72	3082	No	Bryan Maguire	St. Francis (Pa)	Sr	NEC 1st team; 2g,0a in 20/20 games; from Scotland Birthdate: xx/xx/xx ; 3 year starter; central back
73	3090	No	Brad Peetoom	Syracuse	Sr	BigEast 3rd team; 0g,1a in 18/18 games; Member U17 Canadian team; Born: 3/2/86;
74	3092	No	Panos Georgiadis	Vermont	Sr	AmerEast 2nd Team; 0g,1a in 21/21 games; transferred from D3 St Lawrence before 2005; not a goal scored throughout his career
75	3094	Yes	Corey Sipos	Akron	Sr	MAC 1st team; 3g,0a in 21/21 games; against WF, “Akron has an experienced defensive line (3 seniors and a junior), but I wasn’t impressed with their play.”; against UNC, “Akron Coach, Caleb Porter, needs to evaluate how his senior laden defense gets shredded for 6 goals in 2 games.”; after combine, before making 2 own goals, it was readily apparent that he was way over his head. His passing was atrocious.
76	3096	No	Tom Heinbockel	Columbia	Sr	Ivy 2nd Team; 3g, 3a in 16/16 games; 4 year starter
77	3099	Yes	Keith Vereb	Pennsylvania	Sr	Ivy 2nd team; 2g, 0a in 15/16 games; transfer from MD after 2004; tall central defender
78	4000	No	Alex Christensen	Oregon State	Sr	PAC10 Honorable Mention; 2g,0a in 19/19; after suffering season ending injuries in 2005 and 2006 was able to survive his senior season unscathed; starter when not injured;
79	4007	No	Thomas Lobben	Dartmouth	Sr	Ivy 2nd Team; 0g,0a in 16/16 games; 4 year starter
80	4010	Yes	D.J. McCurry	UNCG	Sr	SoCon 1st Team; 0g,0a in 21/21 games; 4 year starter;
81	4015	TV	Luke Sullivan	Lafayette	Sr	Patriot 1st team; 2g,0a in 14/14 games; 4 year starter; against Colgate (TV), “not much, bad header in the box – big guy”;
82	4020	No	Miles Alden-Dunn	College of Charleston	Sr	0g,2a in 3/5 games; starter for 2 years after transferring from Boston after freshman year; Injured this year?; former IMG grad;
83	4022	No	Patrick Roy	Hartford	Sr	AmerEast 2nd Team; 0g,0a in 17/17 games; transferred from Yavapai JC;
84	4024	No	Jarron Brooks	St. Francis (Pa)	Sr	NEC 2nd team; 4g,4a in 18/20 games; 4 year starter;
85	4025	No	Andy Cooper	Missouri State	Sr	MVC 2nd team; 2g, 0a in 19/19 games; 4 year starter;
86	4026	No	Bryce Luetzen	St. Francis (Pa)	Sr	NEC 2nd team; 0g,3a in 20/20 games; 4 year starter; 4 goals in 2006;
87	4030	Yes	Paul Caruso	Radford	Sr	BigSouth 1st Team; 1g; against VMI, “On the opening goal, Caruso made a long throw that senior forward Davorin Husadzinovic flicked on from the near post to the far post and onto sophomore midfielder Justin Zimmer’s head. This was Zimmer’s first goal of the season.”;
88	4034	Yes	Elliot Bradbrook	Akron	Sr	MAC 1st team; 5g,2a in 20/20 games; played DM; against WF, did not play; against UNC, “Akron Coach, Caleb Porter, needs to evaluate how his senior laden defense gets shredded for 6 goals in 2 games.”; transfer from Ashland (D2) in 2006
89	4036	TV	Brandon Foster	UC-Irvine	Sr	BigWest Honorable Mention; 1g,2a in 20/20 games; starter 3 of 4 years; against UCSB (TV), “big, right back. Doesn’t get in good defensive position before the play occurs. When the ball arrives, he’s scrambling to get there, sometimes unsuccessfully (like for 2nd and 3rd goal). his passing is spotty. beaten by Pontius on dribbling in box on cut move.”;
90	4037	No	Kyle Lynch	Cornell	Sr	Ivy Honorable Mention; 0g, 0a in 11/11 games; 3 year starter
91	4038	No	Michael Hutchison	Campbell	Sr	Atlantic Sun Conf 2nd Team; 0g,0a in 22/22 games; starter for 3 years
92	7000	Yes	Camilo Correa	Loyola	Sr	MAAC 2nd Team; 0g,6a in 23/23 games; not a full-time starter until senior year; against Liberty (NCAA), “The second goal was from a free kick 26 yards from goal. With a 6 man Liberty wall, Loyola set up 2 players in front of the ball as a distraction and to block the goal keeper’s view. Senior defender Camilo Correa, who was in the Loyola mini-wall, turned and shot the ball with authority on goal that Liberty freshman goal keeper, Paul Gilbert was unable to catch cleanly”; against Fairfield, no positive or negative comment recorded;
93	7004	No	Michael Okoh	Howard	Sr	ASC 1st Team; 0g,0a in 16/16 games; Howard gave up a lot of goals
94	7008	No	Josh White	Missouri – Kansas City	Sr	0g,1a in 15/15 games; 4 year starter; 6′6″;
95	7009	No	Richard Perdomo	Mercer	Sr	0g,0a in 17/18 games; transferred from Creighton;
96	7010	No	Kyle Hency	Stanford	Sr	PAC10 Honorable Mention; 4g,2a in 6/17 games; only started mostly as junior;
97	7014	No	Steve Algozino	Northern Illinois	Sr	MAC 2nd team; 1g,0a in 19 games; starter for 4 years; participant in tough defense in 2006 (not so much in 2007);
98	7050	Yes	Phil Hartman	Richmond	Sr	4 year starter as a central defender; Not nearly good enough for the next level
99	7055	No	Mason Trafford	UNLV	Sr	MPSF Honorable Mention; 1g,1a in 13/13 games; 13 games – that is all UNLV plays? Wow!; Born in Florida, USA but hometown is Vancouver, BC Canada; not sure if he’s a US or Canadian Citizen Birthdate – 8/21/86; 2 year starter for a bad UNLV team – pass!
100	7075	Yes	Kyle Richards	Richmond	Sr	0g, 2a; against George Washington, “right back Richards is not as talented as his defensive counterpart, Lincoln. His passing was spotty.”; PASS
101	7090	No	Blake Gotkowski	Northern Illinois	Sr	0g, 2a in 18 games; bit player for first 3 years; better options exist

 

2008 MLS Draft: Goalkeeper Rankings

[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