USL Notebook
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
By NICHOLAS MURRAY
LAUDERHILL, Fla. – Entering the MLS Combine as a Generation adidas signee after a stellar USL PDL career with Orange County Blue Star and college career with UCLA, Chandler Hoffman was one of the players many observers were looking forward to seeing up close.
With a pair of goals and an assist in three games, all of which his adiPower side won, Hoffman had one of the standout performances of the week, solidifying his position as a potential Top 5 selection on Thursday.
“It definitely felt good,” Hoffman said. “We’ve got a super-stacked team, so to go 3-0, three results, two goals and an assist, I think I did well for myself, I think I merited the Generation adidas contract and showed people why I got offered it. It was a good weekend, a good experience.”
A 2011 PDL All-League selection after scoring 13 goals in 13 games with Orange County, Hoffman was also pleased he got the opportunity to meet up again with some of his former Blue Star and UCLA teammates as they make the next step into the pro ranks.
“Especially me and Luis [Silva], we really clicked this summer and then it carried over this weekend with a lot of quick combination play,” Hoffman said. “I think we showed well for ourselves.”
PICKS BECOMING CRITICAL: With 19 teams now in MLS, and only 38 picks in Thursday’s SuperDraft, former MLS standout and current ESPN analyst Taylor Twellman believes the importance of making the right selection is more important than ever to teams looking to build a squad that will be capable of making the playoffs or claiming the championship at the end of the season.
“Now, you don’t get as many picks, as opposed to when you used to be able to screw up a couple of times and not worry about it, now you can’t,” Twellman said. “That’s why it’s bigger, because the league has gotten bigger. New York has got one pick, and then Toronto’s got two picks in the first 12.
“In 2002 there were only 10 teams in the league, so adding those nine team in the last 10 years, that makes more emphasis [on the draft]. You can’t really screw it up.”
And that means the clubs having done their homework on the players that could make an impact in MLS is all the more important. The good news for players that didn’t have a great week in Fort Lauderdale? There’s only so much that can be proven or disproved in a five-day span.
“Last year, Michael Farfan had a terrible combine and A.J. Soares was not very good at the combine, and those two were very good players in MLS [in 2011],” Twellman said. “You can’t base your judgment on what you see here, that’s just kind of the whipped cream, so to speak, on what you’ve seen throughout the whole year.”
MEARA STAKES HIS CLAIM: The top two goalkeepers in the MLS SuperDraft are both PDL alums, with the Washington Crossfire’s Chris Blais and Jersey Express’ Ryan Meara both putting in solid work throughout the weekend. The 2010 PDL Goalkeeper of the Year, Meara was happy with the way he performed after being tipped to be the first goalkeeper selected prior to the combine.
“It’s always nice to get some kind of recognition like that,” Meara said, “but for me that meant that I had to really do well at this to keep that. It’s one thing when you come in with a reputation, the hard part is to keep it, so I hope I showed well this weekend.”
Meara was glad to have the experience he did with the Express, especially the ability to play in different environments than the ones he was used to at Fordham University. There’s a chance he could stay in the same area as he joins the professional ranks, with the New York Red Bulls being mentioned as a possibility to select him to fill a need on their team.
“It would be great to stay local with the Red Bulls,” Meara said. “I know my family would love it, but for me, I don’t think there’s a bad team to go to. I’m more interested in going to a good situation where I could possibly compete for some minutes. I think also, as great as it would be to stay in New York, it would be cool to go somewhere on the other side of the country, where I’ve never been, just to see what it’s like out there.”
JAMES TAKES CHANCE TO SHINE: Canadian player Evan James, who starred for the Hamilton FC Rage last summer, got a chance to show what he could do on the NCAA stage as UNC-Charlotte reached the Division I championship game, only to fall to North Carolina.
This week at the MLS Combine, he added to his resume with a pair of well-taken goals that saw a number of outlets tab him as one of the players who impressed the most over the week.
“You come you here and you want to play the best you can,” James said after scoring in Team adiZero’s win on Tuesday in their final game. “You’re just playing the game you love to play, so I feel like there’s not a lot of pressure because they obviously want you to do well and they invited you here so they can have a chance to see you, so it’s up to you to play the game, go out there with confidence and have fun.”
James certainly appeared to be having fun for most of the week. His second goal was a beautifully struck shot that nestled in the bottom right corner of the net, opening the scoring.
“As an attacking player, your job is to score goals,” James said, “so I feel like if I score goals and helped my team, I’m making myself look good.”
ALLEN EAGER TO MAKE IMPACT: When the initial list for the MLS Combine was released and Central Jersey Spartan’s defender RJ Allen’s name wasn’t on it, the absence was a surprising one to many observers, and to Allen himself.
“I was a little upset when I wasn’t on the initial list, but I just continued to work hard, got in the gym every day and continued to get touches,” Allen said. “In the end it just worked out, I think I deserved to be here.”
Allen put in solid performances throughout the week, and will likely hear his name called on Thursday. Although the Spartans have been in existence for just three seasons, they have already produced professional talent, with Ryan Kinne being selected by the New England Revolution in last year’s SuperDraft and other alumni such as Nelson Becerra and Jose Angulo helping the Harrisburg City Islanders to the USL PRO Championship Game a season ago. With that ahead of him, Allen is eager to find out where his next destination will be,
“There’s some nerves, but at the same time I’m really excited,” he said. “I mean, I think I’m someone who will go in the top 38 picks, in the SuperDraft, but we’ll see what happens.”
MICHIGAN MEN: The duo of Lucky Mkosana and Babayele Sodade both had solid combines, Mkosana catching the eye while playing for Team adiPower and Sodade putting in good work for Team Prime. With both players coming from smaller schools, Mkosana playing for Dartmouth and Sodade and UAB, the Combine was a chance for them to prove themselves against players from bigger programs, something Sodade believes his time with the Bucks helped prepare him.
“The PDL is a great way to stay in shape, stay match-fit and play with great players from all around the country,” Sodade said. “I’ve been playing at UAB for three years, and you play with the same people, in the PDL you play against different people, you learn different things every day, it helped me a lot as a player and to mature.”
Mkosana’s speed was certainly eye-catching, and while Sodade picked up a minor hamstring injury on the final day he had already made his presence felt in his first two games. Now both players are eager to find out where the path will lead next.
“Right now it’s just a matter of getting a chance,” Mkosana said. “I’ll take anything, I don’t really care where I’m going.”