Jonathan Bornstein - 2006 MLS Rookie Of The Year...

As expected by most pundits, columnists, analysts and fans, Jonathan Bornstein was named the 2006 Gatorade Rookie of the Year. Congrats Jonathan! Bornstein, from UCLA, was picked by Chivas USA in the fourth round of the 2006 SuperDraft. Yes, your club had a chance to select him but Houston thought Andre Schmid would pan out better. Columbus liked Dayton O'Brian more. New England placed more faith in Leandro de Oliveira. (I'll save you the time, none of those players are with the team that drafted them anymore.) Bornstein beat out the 57 of his fellow class who are still with the league for the annual award.

I'm always interested in the history of awards like this. So below you'll see the past winners and the club that drafted them:
2005 Michael Parkhurst (NE)
2004 Clint Dempsey (NE)
2003 Damani Ralph (CHI)
2002 Kyle Martino (CLB)
2001 Rodrigo Faria (NY)
2000 Carlos Bocanegra (CHI)
1999 Jay Heaps (MIA)
1998 Ben Olsen (DC)
1997 Mike Duhaney (TB)
1996 Steve Ralston (TB)

An interesting fact you can amaze your soccer loving friends with, New England has the four former rookies of the year ('96 Ralston, '99 Heaps, '04 Dempsey & '05 Parkhurst.)

As the college season winds down it'll be fun to think about who could win this award in 12 months time. At this point it is tough to say which underclassmen will be joining, but looking at the list of seniors to the right you'll see some strong candidates like: Michael Harrington out of UNC, Steven Curfman from Wake, Adam Cristman from UVA, Jay Needham from SMU, Greg Dalby from Notre Dame, Chris Loftus from Duke and Frederico Moojen from Clemson. There are many more out there and with the younger crew that will leave school early, or skip college entirely, you never know what you're going to get once the combine comes around.

From College to the Pros Bits and Pieces...10/31/06

Ok, just a quick post on what is going on around the soccer world through my eyes.

- Happy Halloween!

- The Colorado Rapids knocked FC Dallas out of the playoffs in the first round again! Questionable celebration aside, the Rapids put together a great performance against the team with the best regular season home records in the league. Bradenton product Kyle Beckerman completed his journey from strong prospect to team leader and midfielder star. Indiana University product Jacob Peterson worked hard on the left flank but didn't have his best game. University of South Carolina product Clint Mathis proved you don't want to leave him unmarked 25 yards from goal. University of Virginia alumni Hunter Freeman showed he wasn't a boxer before MLS.

- Conference tournaments abound. Want to see a round down? Run on over to College Soccer News. Teams are starting to book their tickets to the tourney by winning their conference tournaments. The official selections will be made and announced next Monday, November 6th. First round games start that weekend November 10th & 11th. The finals will be in St. Louis on December 3rd.

- The ACC tourney is going to be a doosey. Today is the first round. The rankings look like this: #1 Duke, #2 Wake Forest, #3 Virginia, #4 Maryland, #5 Boston College, #6 Clemson, #7 UNC, #8 Virginia Tech, #9 NC State. Ok, for those paying attention the next questions is, "Isn't Wake #1 in the country right now after beating Virginia last week?" Crazy how that works out. The ACC does something interesting because of the off number of teams seeded. #8 plays #9 today and then plays #1 tomorrow. If that isn't giving #1 an easy first game, I don't know what is. Good thing the college kids can sub early and often.

Aside from that you'll see #2 Wake Forest vs. #7 North Carolina, #3 Virginia vs. #6 Clemson and #4 Maryland vs. #5 Boston College in the first round. Those are going to be some great games. The winner of the conference tourney gets an automatic bid, but five of the teams in the tourney are in the Top 10 so you know the ACC is going to be loading up the 2006 NCAA tourney.

- I went to the University of Denver vs. Air Force match this weekend with fellow FCTP blogger Allen. First off, the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation isn't at the level of the ACC. I watched the Virginia vs. Wake match after getting home and it isn't even close! While Denver outclassed Air Force by a mile but DU would have been crushed by either Wake or UVA. Denver has put together a great season winning seven and drawing one. Their junior goalie Bredehoft posted his seventh shutout of the season. Denver and New Mexico meet this Sunday to determine league champ. It doesn't look like there is a conference tournament so DU could be headed to the NCAA tourney with their #23 ranking in tow. Depends what happens against #11 New Mexico I suppose. I don't think we'll be seeing any DU Pioneers in MLS next year, but you never know.

- Remember to catch the MLS semi-finals this weekend. DC United will host New England while Colorado will travel to Houston. So in the east you have #1 vs. #2 while in the west you have #2 vs. #4. Let GO RAPIDS!!!

Where Are They Now II, the U-17 Bradenton Class of 2000….

Recently I did my best to track down the first Bradenton Residency Class of ’99. I found most of them, however some readers were helpful in filling in some of the blanks. If you’re not already a member of BigSoccer, head on over to see some of the updates. I figured it was only right to continue down this path with Where Are They Now II, the Class of 2000 (once again, the class of 2000 is the group that arrive in the Spring of 2000 and was there in the fall of 2000). This time around I won’t go as in depth, so we’ll focus more on their college and their current situation. That’ll keep me from having so many installments.

First off, once again the official total of players at the residency program was 20, however this class has 24 and each semester only had 18…go figure. Some of these guys skipped college and went straight to the pros. Others went to college and got to the pros more recently, others are out of the soccer world so far as I can tell.

Craig Capano - In 2001 was the youngest member of the Parade Magazine All-American team. With the U-17’s he was capped 93 times and played in the 2001 FIFA U-17 World Youth Championships. Has played for the U-18 and U-20 teams. Left Bradenton after his Fall of 2001 semester and was drafted by Chicago in the second round of the 2002 SuperDraft at the age of 16. 2004 was Craig’s best season in MLS, he scored his first goal and played in the most matches in his young career. The 2005 season never started for Capano as he had reconstructive surgery to repair a torn ACL in March of 2005. 2006 was another season of recovery for Capano where he just played for the Chicago reserves, never getting into a Senior match. At this point Capano looks like a young star who hasn’t grown into the pro game and injuries haven’t made that any easier.

David Chun - After leaving Bradenton in the Spring of 2001, Chun enrolled at SMU in Texas. Had a strong career at SMU serving as Co-Captain and midfield ironman, playing in all of their games his Junior season. Played on the U-14, U-16, U-17 & U-20 US youth teams. Chun was selected by the Columbus Crew with the 15th pick in the 2006 Supplemental Draft, however he didn’t secure a roster spot with the club and decided to finish school.

Daniel Fiore – Spent the Spring semester of 2000 at Bradenton and then disappeared. I can’t find him on-line other than at Bradenton, I can’t find him in the USL...I can’t find him. So if anyone out there has any information, post away.

Hunter Freeman – Freeman spent two semesters at Bradenton before enrolling at The University of Virginia in 2002. He immediately made it onto the starting roster and went on to have a strong college career at UVA. After his Junior season, he joined MLS as a P-40/generation adidas player (I can’t remember the exact year of name change) and was drafted in the first round of the 2005 MLS SuperDraft by the Colorado Rapids. As a rookie he got plenty of playing time on the Rapids back line and in his second year he drifted in and out of the starting right back position. Freeman has played for many of the youth national teams.

Gray Griffin – Griffin spent four semesters at Bradenton before enrolling at Furman University in 2002. Tragically he was killed in a car accident just over four years ago, in October of 2002. He played in 12 matches his freshman year before the accident. Also injured in the accident were Bradenton classmates Chefik Simo and Josh Villalobos.

Jordan Harvey – After Bradenton Harvey decided to play his college soccer at UCLA. He finished a strong career there and was drafted by the Colorado Rapids in the 1st round of the 2006 Supplemental Draft. He didn’t see any playing time this season with the Rapids and will no doubt have new competition for those precious 10 developmental spots after next year’s draft. He did help the Rapids win the 2006 Reserve League Championship.

David Johnson – When you have a generic name, searching on the internet gets difficult. However, I was able to coble together the fact that after Johnson left Bradenton in the Spring of 2001 and at some point joined the Dutch club William II and their youth system. I can’t tell if he ever went to college. In 2005 he popped up with the LA Galaxy and played in some reserve matches but didn’t get a contract in 2006. He didn’t play in the USL in 2006 either, so I don’t know where he’s gone.

Eddie Johnson – As American soccer fans we all know the story of Eddie Johnson. Upon leaving residency in 2001 he was drafted 19th overall by Dallas in the MLS SuperDraft. Looking at the names taken ahead of him is certainly an interesting walk down memory lane (http://www.mlsnet.com/history/archive.jsp?year=2001&content=superdraft). Johnson bumped along at Dallas always as a kid with promise, not reaching his potential. All of a sudden in 2004 he goes from 0 to 100 miles per hour and ties for the league lead in goals. That same year he started to light up the Men’s National Team during qualification for the 2006 World Cup. While playing four matches in 2004 he scored 6 goals. In 2005 his impressive numbers came back down to earth but he continued to impress and lead the team towards Germany. Then came 2006. An off-season trade to Kansas City seems to kill his MLS scoring mojo and he went to Germany as a falling star. His play failed to make and impressing in Germany and he finished the 2006 season with 2 goals and 1 assist. Getting that big MLS contract must have killed his work ethic. Eddie is going to have to do some serious thinking about his career this off-season, or he’ll flame out of stardom as quickly as he entered it.

Paul Johnson – Went to the University of Virginia after leaving Bradenton in 2001 however he didn’t finish all four years there. Once again, that is where the line goes cold. If anyone out there knows where he is…help a brother out.

Chris Lancos – Enrolled at the University of Maryland and was part of the 2005 NCAA Championship team. In the 2006 MLS Supplemental Draft he was selected by Real Salt Lake with their last selection. Instead of sticking around MLS, Lancos made the switch across the pond to Germany and FC Kaiserslautern's second team. He is getting playing time with the reserve squad and could someday be the next Steve Cherundolo.

Mike Magee – Mike Magee was New York’s first Josmer Altidore…in a way. He was drafted by the club in the 2003 SuperDraft with the 4th overall pick after finishing high school and the residency program. That spring he became the MetroStars’ youngest player to see the field and then score a goal. In his 4th season with the club, he struggled to firm up a spot on the field but got within 3 games of playing 100 in his career. New York fans continue to brace for the day when he breaks out and becomes the star his youth career seemed to predict.

Justin Mapp – Mapp made the jump to MLS one season before Bradenton class mate Magee. Maybe that’s why I always confuse the two. In his rookie 2002 season , the 17 year old played in a few DC United matches after being selected 4th overall that spring. In 2003 he was traded to Chicago and started getting solid playing time. He continues to hold down a midfield spot for Chicago and has put together some decent career numbers in terms of assists. In the run up to World Cup 2006 he got a sniff at the full National Team but didn’t make the final squad.

Chad Marshall – After the residency program Marshall went to college, attending Stanford University in California. He finished up his freshman year winning the Soccer America Freshman of the Year honor. His sophomore year saw continued success making him a hot college prospect. In 2004 he joined MLS as a P-40 player and was selected second overall behind the most famous MLS draft participant ever, Freddy Adu. Marshall paid immediate dividends for Columbus’ defense and has played himself into the senior national team picture.

Heath Pearce – Pearce moved from Florida to Portland, Oregon making one heck of a shift across the country for college where he enrolled at the University of Portland. After his junior season he decided to give Europe a try and signed with with FC Nordsjælland of the Danish SAS Ligæn midway through the 2004/05 season. He continues to play for FC Nordsjælland and had a good 05/06 season, helping the team win the Viasat Cup as a left back. Former US head coach Bruce Arena introduced many American fans to Pearce for the first time in the run up to World Cup 2006, although he didn’t make it to Germany.

Santino Quaranta – In the spring of 2001 Santino left the residency program to join MLS as a P-40 player. In the 2001 SuperDraft DC United made him the 8th and, at the time, youngest player ever taken in the draft. In his rookie year he played well enough to be named to the MLS All-Star game, again as the youngest ever. A few more years into his career and the once rocketing star was sidelined for all of 2004 with injuries. An off 2005 paved the way for a trade to LA in 2006. This season he played roughly half of the league schedule and only scored three goals. Santino went from future national team star to veteran journeyman, except he just turned 22. Hopefully with some solid coaching in Los Angeles he’ll be able to get back on the path towards the senior National Team.

Zachary Riffett – This keeper only spent one semester in Florida, the rest of his high school experience was in Texas where he was names Adidas/NSCAA National Player of the Year as a senior. After high school he enrolled at Boston University where he took over the starting keeper spot in his junior year. This is his senior season and he a great 0.65 GAA and a .831 save percentage after 16 games.

Marco Rodriguez – Marco was another one and done member of the program in terms of semesters. Since leaving Bradenton he has enrolled at California State – Fullerton and is in his junior season. He has been battling some injuries and has gotten limited playing time in 2006 after losing a season to injury and a red shirt.

Mario Rodriguez – Unfortunately Mario Rodriguez is a very popular name for soccer players. There has been a player by this name playing for the Columbus Crew in MLS, but he is from Guatemala and born in 1981, making him too old. It appears this MR will need to stay open until some reader can help.

Adam Schuerman – Was a Bradenton resident four semesters. After leaving Florida, Schuerman enrolled at the University of Connecticut. From 2002 to 2005 Adam Schuerman was the man between the pipes for the Huskies. Over his four year career he had a solid 0.86 GAA. Adam was not drafted by an MLS team in the 2006 draft.

Chefik Simo – As I said above, Simo was injured in the car accident that killed Bradenton classmate, Gray Griffin. Simo transferred to The University of Virginia from Furman University and in 2004 tried to make a soccer comeback after his serious injuries sustained in the auto accident and he was able to play in 10 matches before doctors recommended quitting the sport. Earlier this year a federal jury ruled in Simo’s favor awarding $7 million from automaker Mitsubishi Motors, saying the car in which the accident happened was defective in its stability.

Jordan Stone – After leaving Bradenton Stone signed on with MLS as a P-40 player and he was selected in the 2002 MLS SuperDraft by Dallas with the 15th overall pick. At the time he was seen as a strong prospect, probably due to the status the residency program was gaining. After three season with the Burn, Stone decided to retire and go to college. He is attending Texas Tech University getting his degree.

Josh Villalobos – Villalobos was also injured in the terrible car accident claiming the life of Bradenton classmate Griffin and seriously injuring classmate Simo. Unlike Simo, Villalobos finished his career at Furman and in January of 2006 was selected by the Atlanta Silverbacks of USL-1 while he was not selected in either of the MLS drafts. Interestingly, he was offered a P-40 deal while still in residency but turned it down, alienating him from coach Ellinger. It looks like he didn’t make it with Atlanta and again that is as far as my research can find.

Tyson Wahl – After residency Tyson attended the University of California at Berkeley. After his senior season he attended the 2006 MLS combine where his stock rose. Kansas City drafted him with the 19th overall selection in the 2006 SuperDraft. In his rookie season he played in 10 matches for the struggling Wizards. The jury is still out on this one.

Ford Williams – Became a North Carolina Blue Heel after leaving the residency program. Between 2002 and 2005 Williams had a strong UNC career. Williams has been in and out of some of the older youth national teams. After graduating from UNC Ford wasn’t drafted by MLS and I can’t find his trail. Again, I need updates people!


So there it is. All in one shot this time. If you made it through the whole list, congrats…it was a long one. Overall I’ve got to give the award for best success of the class to Chad Marshall. He’s made it at all levels of the National program, he’s carved a starting spot out for himself and he’s really been a model professional. Eddie Johnson would have been my answer had I done this a year ago, but he seems to be letting a big contract go to his head. Pearce is playing well abroad and may turn into a bigger success on the international stage if Marshall doesn’t head overseas soon. Stay tuned!

2006 MLS Sophomore Player of The Year

There's always a lot of talk about the rookie of the year. We'll hear about players going through a sophomore slump. But we don't hear many pundits talk about the sophomore player of the year. That is, just like picking the best rookie in the league, picking out who in their 2nd year performed the best.

I find how a player performs in their 2nd year to say more about them than how they did in their rookie year. Offensive players have an advantage in their first year. They can get away with more mistakes than defenders. A mistake on the offensive end can result in something like a goal kick. A mistake on the defensive end can result in a goal against your team.

Even though technically this wasn't Herculez Gomez's sophomore year, he only got 5 minutes of playing time in his first year. In many ways last year was his rookie year. He did great. This year he's frequently struggled to even get playing time, let alone doing well. MLS defenses have adjusted and he's struggled to play consistently well.

Unlike offensive players, a gaffe in the defensive third too often results in a goal. This leaves young defensive players with a lot less room for error than their defensive counter parts. Because of the importance of not only raw skill but also reading the game and recognizing the positioning and movements needed to keep things tight at the back, it often takes defensive players a year just to adjust to the level of the MLS. It's in their second year that defenders tend to show what they're really capable of in the league.. One can see this in the list below with the number of defenders that had a good 2nd year.

There were a lot of players that in their 2nd year in the league that got a lot of playing time. And a lot of them did a decent job with it. Guys like Drew Moor, Chad Barrett, Ugo Ihemelu, Danny O'Rourke, Clyde Simms, Hunter Freeman and others were worth looking at. But many of them did not see enough playing time or really stand out in their play to be in the running for the award. That's not to say that guys like Chad Barrett still don't have a lot of promise. They just didn't do enough this year to be in the running.

These are the players I thought were most deserving of being called best sophomore player in the league :

5) Kevin Novak – Real Salt Lake

Novak is the dark horse candidate that made my list. In many ways this was a bit like a rookie season for him. For the first time in his career he found himself playing right back.

Luke Kreamalmeyer was the early season rookie darling at Real Salt Lake during their 2005 inaugural year. "Kreme" was fast, hard working and got the starting not for their first every game at home. But it was Novak caught fans attention as the season wound down. He was thrown into the starting lineup late in the season when RSL was in the middle of a massive losing streak (they closed the season out going 0-11-1).

This year Ellinger seemed more than happy to put him on the back burning. Ex-US International Chris Klein had a lock on starting on the right side of the midfield. And Ellinger seemed happy to experiment with Andy Williams, Medhi Ballouchy and rookie Ryan Johnson on the left.

Veteran Chris Brown wasn't looking good as a rightback. Novak stepped up and showed Brown how to get things done and made the job at RB his own. He got in over 2,000 for RSL this year. At times he made some mistakes but he made up for it with his work rate.

4) Chris Rolfe – Chicago Fire

He generated a lot of buzz in his rookie year racking up 8 goals and 5 assists. He's had some injuries to deal with, especially this year. Had he not broken his foot, it's likely he would've went on to have a year better than last years. Despite the unfortunate injury and only getting 1,636 minutes this year he still managed to put away 7 goals. More importantly, as Revolution coach Steve Nicol recently pointed out, he has a wonderful understanding of the game. Watch for him putting away a key goal or three for the Fire in the playoffs this year.

3) Michael Parkhurst – New England Revolution

The beauty of Parkhurst is that he's darn good without being spectacular. And in many ways that's exactly what you want in a defender. You want them to be consistently good. You can't afford them to have an off night without your team being punished for it.

One of the things I don't hear people talk about enough with Parkhurst is he ability to read the play and break it up cleanly. Last year in his rookie season he picked up only 2 yellow cards while playing every minute of the season for the Revolution. This year he missed 2 games but only got one yellow card (YC). Not only did Parkhurst avoid having a sophomore slump but he had another solid season. He may not be spectacular but he may turn out to be the next Ryan Nelsen.

2) Scott Sealy – Kansas City Wizards

If I had to pick Eddie Johnson or Scott Sealy to be on my team, I wouldn't hesitate to pick Sealy. Kansas City brought Eddie Johnson in expecting him to do big things for the team and have paid him big wages accordingly. Johnson hasn't produced but luckily for KC, Scott Sealy stepped up again this year and scored goals when they needed them. He put away 10 goals for them this year and nearly dragged them into the playoffs. Not only did he score goals again this year but he did it needing less minutes and less shots than most any other player in the league. His presence at Kansas City makes Eddie Johnson expendable.

And the winner for the unofficial 2007 Major League Sophomore of the Year award is :

1) Bobby Boswell – DC United

If I were a GM, my wet dreams would involve building a defense around this kid. In fact, I'd love to see him teamed up with Parkhurst. It'd be good cop / bad cop with Bobby being the bad cop. Parkhurt gets his job done quietly. On the other hand Bobby isn't shy to remind you of his presense. Boswell was key part of the defense for DC United yet again. He looks to have a nice combination of skills. He didn't get involved in the attack as often this year but the young Troy Perkins in the net and the offense scoring goals, it was better for the team for it to be that way. He's only 23 and looks capable of leading the USA's backline for World Cup 2010.

From College to the Pros Welcomes our Third Blogger...

From College to the Pros is pleased to welcome Prk166, otherwise known as Allen, to the fray. Prk's first contribution will be posted shortly for your reading enjoyment. Prk keeps himself busy on many blogs, so we probably won't see his as often as you all want. :)

Welcome Allen!

Remember, if you're interested in joining the writing crew here you just need to send me an "audition" piece. The only requirement is that it fits into the theme of From College to the Pros. Read more here...

MLS Draft Results Analysis 2006 – Post Season…

There are a lot of ways to look at and evaluate the 2006 MLS Draft class. Some teams got a lot of players who could settle into reserves and develop for the future, other teams drafted selectively and either struck pay dirt or lost big time. Did the team that got the most production out of their rookies win the draft lottery? Or did the team that selected the best talent still waiting for their shot do better? It is always interesting after the MLS season to look back at the most recent draft class to see who the winners were and who the losers. So let’s jump into it.

First, some basic statistics on the 2006 draft class and who’s left. Over 96 selections only 95 players were taken because Houston decided to pass on their final Supplemental Pick. Of those 95 players, 37 were dropped from their teams’ rosters, leaving 58 draft class rookies. One player, Goal Keeper Pete Dzubay, is included in the above numbers but is the league’s emergency backup keeper. While he was drafted by the Red Bulls, he isn’t considered to be on their roster and didn’t see any first team action this season. Pete isn’t included in the numbers for New York.

First off I need to set my paradigm… If a player was dropped in the middle of the season and MLSnet.com doesn’t list them with the club, they’re not counted here, they are considered to be waived before the regular season starts. Additionally, I’m only talking about rookies acquired in the MLS SuperDraft and Supplemental Draft.

We’ll start with the easy one, who drafted the most players?

	Players Selected
FC Dallas	12
Kansas City	11
Chicago	10
Columbus	9
Los Angeles	8
Houston	7
New England	7
Colorado	6
DC United	6
New York	6
Chivas USA	5
Real Salt Lake	5

Looks like FC Dallas took the biggest group of players while Real Salt Lake chose to trade picks for veterans. Chivas USA seemed to do the same thing; maybe it is an expansion club tactic. You can see the three teams who like to trade for the hope of finding the next diamond in the rough with lots of picks; Dallas, Kansas City & Chicago.

Now, let’s see how each club did with keeping the players they drafted:

	Selected	Finished Season	Finished Season %
DC United	6	5	83%
Chivas USA	5	4	80%
Real Salt Lake	5	4	80%
Columbus	9	7	78%
Chicago	10	7	70%
Colorado	6	4	67%
New York	6	4	67%
Kansas City	11	7	64%
New England	7	4	57%
FC Dallas	12	5	42%
Houston	7	2	29%
Los Angeles	8	2	25%

Looks like DC United wins this category. They drafted just about the number they needed. Of the double digit clubs, Chicago has the most room for the young players to stick around. What happened in LA and Houston? A combination of older, more expensive players must have made them cut down the group. Or their scouting needs some serious help. Dallas too!

Now let’s switch gears and see how many games those 58 players participated in with the senior team:

	Matches Played
Chivas USA	89
Chicago	77
Columbus	77
Kansas City	50
Real Salt Lake	50
Colorado	45
New York	34
Los Angeles	25
New England	23
FC Dallas	20
DC United	17
Houston	2

Chivas got 89 matches out of their rookie class. I think that speaks volume to the scouting and coaching at Chivas USA this year. They got the guys who could contribute immediately and they helped them learn to adapt to the professional game. Houston…only 2! Houston, we have a problem. Once Ching and DeRo leave, what are you going to do?

So how does that stack up on an average games/player basis?

	Rookie Games Played	Rookie Class at End of Season	Average Games/Rookie
Chivas USA	89	4	22.25
Los Angeles	25	2	12.50
Real Salt Lake	50	4	12.50
Colorado	45	4	11.25
Chicago	77	7	11.00
Columbus	77	7	11.00
New York	34	4	8.50
Kansas City	50	7	7.14
New England	23	4	5.75
FC Dallas	20	5	4.00
DC United	17	5	3.40
Houston	2	2	1.00

Once again, with a small class, Chivas USA really got a lot from their rookies. The success they’ve seen can be attributed to many of the veterans they brought in and their rookie combo of Sacha Kljestan & Jonathan Bornstein. Those two really took the league by storm. Bob Bradley and his staff really won the draft game if you’re looking for immediate payback. Bornstein’s six goals and four assists make him look like a league vet.

On the other hand, I mentioned earlier that the draft isn’t all about getting the immediate bang for the buck. Kljestan & Bornstein had such successful opening seasons, they may be on the scouting lists for leagues around the world by now. Those who are late bloomers, may stick around the league longer. However, if you ask me I want a guy who can come in and contribute…today. Chivas USA really needed that kind of player and they got two.

Now let’s look at each team and their Class of 2006 rookie situation.

Chicago – Drafted 10 guys, kept 7. 70% is a good percentage in this league, especially when you consider Houston and LA. Calen Carr and Dasan Robinson got the most playing time of the bunch. Carr became a huge success in the Open Cup, helping the club get to the finals and win the competition. Robinson became an important part of their defense that allowed a stingy 1.3 goals per game. Brian Plotkin was their only other rookie to get meaningful playing time over ten games.

Chivas USA – We’ve discussed the rookie combo of Sacha Kljestan & Jonathan Bornstein at length already. The only strike against the super twins, their production tapered off at the end of the season. Maybe they weren’t ready for the long MLS season. It’ll be interesting to see how they do in the playoffs. Bornstein is the MLS Rookie of the Year, even though it hasn’t been announced yet, and it has to be noted he was selected with the 37th pick…diamonds do stick around to later rounds of the draft. Lawson Vaughn is another Chivas rookie who saw the field in 17 matches and showed he can defend in this league. Drew Helm is the only other draftee who made the squad and he got some playing time. Bob Bradley really won this draft by getting his rookie combo. However, what would he have been able to do with 7 more picks like FC Dallas?

Colorado – Colorado has a history of bad drafts, if I was writing on the success of teams in MLS drafts all time, Colorado would be towards the bottom of the league list. So it was refreshing when Colorado picked Jacob Peterson in the second round of the SuperDraft with their first pick. It took Peterson awhile to get into the swing of things, but he came on strong at the end of the season and his fourth goal was the one they needed to tie Houston and clinch a playoff spot. Daniel Wasson was the 86th pick for the Rapids and he’s the only other rookie who got playing time for the Black and Blue. He seems like a solid prospect and if he continues to progress next season, he’ll be a steal that late. The Rapids kept 4 of 6, but only 2 of 6 contributed…they need to do better.

Columbus – Sigi Schmid had a tough season in Columbus. The team was the league’s worst and first to be eliminated from the playoffs. So, rookies got some good playing time, for better or worse. Columbus drafted 9 players and kept 7, so that is a good ratio. #3 pick in the draft, Jason Garey, had a strong season getting 5 goals and making 2 assists. #9 Kei Kamara also did well as a rookie with 3 goals. Brandon Moss was selected at #27 and got some solid playing time. Of all the teams, this class of rookies really came in and contributed. That shows in their average of 11 games across 7 guys. However, you can’t build a team just of rookies. So maybe Sigi was looking more towards 2007 with the class he selected in 2006.

DC United - Let’s face it…DCU didn’t need a good draft class. Top to bottom they have the most talent with their veterans and youngsters already in place. So their average of 3.4 games/rookie should come as no surprise. Rod Dyachenko, selected 31st, was their top rookie in the playing time department. So long as guys like Adu, Gomez, Moreno, Eski and Boswell are on the roster, rookies are going to have a hard time breaking through.

FC Dallas – Colin Clarke likes the draft. He always seems to come in with extra picks and takes a big group. This time around he selected the most players, 12. However, many of them weren’t worth the time and only 5 made it through the season with the team. Those 5 guys only averaged 4 games each. I think Dallas was in a position like DC. They had good veterans so the rookies can sit and learn. Look for Dax McCarty & Blake Wagner to get more playing time in the coming years.

Houston – Houston probably had the worst draft in the league this year. They got one big name prospect, Patrick Ianni, but only had three picks in the SuperDraft while the other five were in the Supplemental. Ianni is the only player who got any playing time and he saw two matches. While Houston is deep, as I said earlier…what happens when the senior veterans retire or go abroad?

Kansas City – The Wizards are another club that went in there with a big paint brush and took eleven guys. They even managed to keep seven on the roster. 4th overall pick, Yura Movsisyan, was a surprise to most and when he only got into 10 games and didn’t score a goal, it kind of proved why. Matt Groenwald was their biggest impact rookie and he was taken with the 28th pick. Their average games/rookie score of 7.14 shows they didn’t get a lot from this class. Since they didn’t have the solid veteran base, they struggled and the rookies couldn’t help prop them up.

Los Angeles – Well, the Gals tried to get some good talent taking eight players in the draft, but something made them only hold onto two. Trevor McEahron was the biggest name not to make the roster, but LA took him 60th knowing he may not work out. Nathan Sturgis has good US U-20 experience and should be on the roster in seasons to come. But I guess Landycake’s salary made things too tight to keep the rookie class of 2006. Let’s also remember Steve Sampson was in charge, so you knew it wasn’t going to work out too well.

New England – The Revolution are good in the draft year in and year out. This time around they earned mediocre marks. Their first round pick, Leandro de Oliveira, got injured and was waived before long, The rest of the class didn’t get into too many games and their 5.75 games/rookie average is among the bottom third of the league. They had a good team having just been in the MLS Cup, so they didn’t need their rookies too much. I guess they’re kind of like DC United on this one.

New York – Since the Metros…I mean Red Bulls are always bumping around the bottom of the league, they always hope to go big in the draft. This time around they traded up to the number one spot and snagged Marvell Wynn. Wynn became the top prospect after his display in the Youth World Cup in 2005. He got good playing time on that Red Bulls back line, but showed in the opening match against DC that he has a lot to learn. Josmer Altidore was a flier for the Red Bulls at 16 years old, but that one paid off big time. He got playing time at the end of the season and scored some screamer goals. He shot up to a top American prospect really quickly.

Salt Lake – Real needed a lot of help after last year and with the second pick in the draft they selected a creative midfielder with a lot of flair in Mehdi Ballouchy. While he was thrown into the lions den this season trying to right a sinking ship, he performed well. There were many times where I was dazzled with his quick feet and ball control. His scoring didn’t dazzle, but I have little doubt that he’ll continue to progress and improve in MLS. Ballouchy is one of the gems from this draft, and his number two position was well justified. Willis Forko is a solid defender SLC picked up in the Supplemental Draft and he got a lot of playing time on that back line. However, SLC let in a league high 49 goals this season, showing there is a need for improvement in back. Forko may be able to adapt and stay in the league, or he may be a short term solution while SLC fills the holes.


So, do I have to pick winners and losers? Of course I do! Chivas USA is the clear winner. Columbus, Chicago, Colorado, New York and Salt Lake all did well. DC United didn't need to do much, neither did Dallas or New England. The last two may have the kind of class that pours it on in a couple years when holes apear Losers: Houston take first there. Followed by LA & Kansas City. That's where I think it falls out...how about you?

Former Campbell Star Called Up to Mexico U20s

Former Campbell Camel Sonny Guadarrama, who signed a pro contract over the summer with Santos (Mexico), was included in the United States Under-20 Men’s National Team roster for the Busan International Four Nations Tournament, Aug. 29-Sept. 2 in Busan, South Korea. The Cedar Park, Texas native with Mexican heritage,played in all 3 matches and started two, including the USA’s 3-1 victory over Argentina at Busan Asiad Main Stadium, a 2002 World Cup venue.

This week, Sonny was called up by the Mexican U-20 team for two matches vs. Ecuador on Oct. 19 and 21. In 2005, Guadarrama rated second among the nation’s freshmen and ranked 16th nationally in points per game (1.68). He finished 18th in goals per game (0.68) among all Division I players. He was a unanimous choice as Atlantic Sun Conference Freshman of the Year and also gained second-team Freshman All-America recognition from College Soccer News after tallying 32 points on 13 goals and six assists in 19 matches.

Based on some nuances of recent FIFA rulings, it appears that Guadarrama will have his choice of whether to represent El Tri or the Yanks as he reaches the senior national team level.

Originally published at Triangle Soccer Fanatics. Photo: GoCamels.com

Bic's View: UNC 1-1 Maryland (10/6), Campbell 1-0 UNC (10/10), and UNC 0-1 Wake Forest (10/13)

It's been a rough two weeks for the Tar Heels. After drawing 1-1 with the defending national champion Maryland Terrapins in a hard fought affair, UNC fell to Campbell away in a game where the only goal was an own goal. The Tar Heels scoreless streak continued back at Fetzer Field on Friday the 13th as Wake Forest got the better of the Tar Heels by a single goal. Winless now in 4 straight games, the Tar Heels look to rebound on Friday when they travel up Hwy 15/501 to take on ACC-leading Duke.

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TSF: In the Maryland match, you took part in a very spirited overtime period as the Tar Heels were pressing for a goal. It looked like you had a pretty good shout for a penalty in overtime. Did you think the Tar Heels deserved a chance to finish that match from the penalty spot after you went down under a challenge on the break in overtime?

Bic: Absolutely. Contact was made and it was a very clumsy challege by the defender that went unpunished. He clipped my back leg just as I thought I had gone by him.

TSF: It's been a rough couple of weeks for the Tar Heels. With 2 matches remaining in the regular season, what can the team hope to salvage from these last two games.

Bic: I think two wins is a very realistic aspiration for the Duke and BC games. We wouldn't want to take any less than 4 points from the last two matches.

TSF: I know you were hosting a few recruits on campus during the last couple of weeks. What role do the current players play in the recruiting process when you host prospects on campus?

Bic: Basically the recruit stays with us in our dorm rooms and we show them around campus. They ask us a lot of great questions and we just try our best to get them to try to show them that Carolina is an outstanding place to go to school, not just an outstanding place to play soccer.

TSF:Looking ahead to Duke, this is a team you should be intimately familiar with. You've played with some of their key starters like Michael Videira, Spencer Wadsworth, and Darrius Barnes with the Raleigh Elite. What can the Tar Heels expect from these players, and the Duke team on a whole?

Bic: Duke is a great team that is deep with talent in every position. They are an extremely athletic team, and their size and pace is always a threat.

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Stephen Bickford, a sophmore forward at UNC and Green Hope (Cary) High School alum, will be sharing his thoughts on the Tar Heels season with Triangle Soccer Fanatics throughout the year.

Originally posted at Triangle Soccer Fanatics.

Where are they now...The 1999 US Soccer U-17 Residency class...Final Part 4...

Raul Rivera – The best I can tell from searching the web, Raul didn’t go onto big University success on the soccer field. It looks like the forward went to Fresno City College in Fresno, California after leaving Bradenton. In 2004 he was named to the D-III NSCAA/adidas Junior College Men’s All-America Second Team. Despite going to a small Junior College in the central valley of California, Raul got some playing time with Chivas USA Reserves in their inaugural season of 2005. However he never made it into a first team match. In 2006 he played for the PDL’s Fresno Fuego appearing in eight matches.

Matt Roberts – In 2000 Roberts joined Bradenton classmate Abe Thompson enrolling at the University of Maryland. Roberts played soccer for one season at Maryland, only getting into two games. After 2000, the trail goes cold. There is an assistant coach Matt Roberts at Aquinas College, however his playing career seems to be at different times than the former Bradenton resident’s. Maybe someone out there can help track him down.

Abe Thompson – Abe Thompson went to The University of Maryland to play college soccer after graduating from Bradenton. He had a stellar college career where he was named to a semifinalist for the Hermann Trophy in both his Junior and Senior seasons. In January of 2005 he was drafted in the second round of the Supplemental Draft. I was personally shocked when he slipped out of the first three rounds. His size and nose for goal have helped him remain in MLS and this season he scored two goals and assisted on six more. Abe could be one of those guys putting together the pieces, waiting for a break out season. I’d like to see him stick around MLS and keep hunting for goals.

Seth Trembly – (I have to warn you, as a Colorado Rapids fan I don’t like Seth Trembly because of his play for my team and his playing against my team. This may show through as a negative bias in this portion of the blog.) After a strong career in Bradenton and the US U-17 team, Seth Trembly joined the Colorado Rapids as a Nike Project-40 player in August of 1999. I’m not positive, but he is may be the first of his class to join the league. Seth is a small guy, measuring in at 5’–6” and I don’t think he was ever able to keep up with the MLS speed of play. He often came into a tackle too late while playing for the Rapids, making me think he just didn’t get it. Over a four year career with the Rapids he played in 52 games but didn’t do much of anything.

For some reason, John Ellinger decided he needed a lot of his former U-17 team in Salt Lake City and he traded…yes traded…for Seth. It was only a 4th Round Supplemental Pick, but still a trade. In Salt Lake City Seth’s career has stayed the same and he hasn’t played for the senior team in 2006. Somehow I see his MLS career ending with this latest season.

Peter Withers – Joined Ohio State after finishing up in Florida. In 2005 he was spotted in a reserve match playing with Columbus, but he didn’t suit up for the senior team and wasn’t taken in the draft, although he was listed as a possible target in the 2005 draft by the MLS Draft Tracker. Since his reserve stint with Columbus in 2005, the trail has gone cold. Maybe he can stop by and let us know what he’s been up to.

Alexander Yi – After residency, Alex Yi enrolled at UCLA and played as a true freshman in 2000. In that first season he was honored as Pac-10 Freshman of the Year and started all 19 of the Bruin’s matches. In his second year he continued to star for the Southern California school and finished the season as one of the top defenders in the country. His nomination for the Hermann Trophy got him recognized by scouts abroad. After finishing his sophomore year, Yi moved to Belgium to play for Royal Antwerp. In two seasons he played in 17 matches and decided the US was going to be better for his career. In 2005 he was allocated to FC Dallas by a weighted lottery. Since returning to the US he has struggled and is still trying to break into the starting 11 for Coach Colin Clarke. Yi is one of the guys where you know the sound soccer skills are there, there just needs to be something that brings them out.

Coach John Ellinger – John Ellinger continued coaching U-17’s in Florida until the start of Real Salt Lake. Owner David Checketts appointed him in October of 2004 and gave Ellinger the daunting task of getting an expansion club off the ground. Interestingly, Coach decided to bring many of his former US Youth National Team players back under his wings. Those players included the above listed Bradenton players in addition to Clint Mathis. The first season experiment ended terribly and Salt Lake limped to five league wins. In his second year Ellinger has improved things in SLC, but the team still failed to make the playoffs winning ten matches this time around. Ellinger hasn’t gotten the boot yet, but you’ve got to think he is on warning with Checketts.



So that is all folks...You've now seen what happened to the first class to go through the Bradenton Residency program. Without a doubt it has helped develop some of the top talent in US Soccer (Beasley, Donovan, Convey, Gooch) and it has also not been a perfect system. I think this helps to show how hard it can be to identify soccer talent at such young an age. Hopefully as MLS gets their vertical system in place, the more players being professionally trained, the more who can succeed in this type of environment. Good luck to the current class and check back soon for an abbreviated look at where are they now.

In case you missed Part I, Part II & Part III.