USL News Release
Thursday, January 12, 2012
TAMPA, Fla. – Led by former Reading United and Carolina Dynamo standout Andrew Wenger, selected with the No.1 overall pick, the USL PDL had another outstanding number of players selected at the Major League Soccer SuperDraft on Thursday in Kansas City, Mo. Overall, USL PDL alumni made up 26 of the 38 players selected, more than two-thirds, with six players taken in the Top 10.
Wenger, who helped Reading reach the USL PDL Championship Weekend and the U.S. Open Cup in 2010, and the Dynamo reach the U.S. Open Cup and win the South Atlantic Division in 2011, was taken by the Montreal Impact. Also a standout for Duke University, he won the 2011 MAC Hermann Trophy, the top honor in NCAA Soccer.
Wenger was joined in the Top 5 selections by former Washington Crossfire standout Kelyn Rowe, who played for his hometown team last summer, and Luis Silva, who had five goals and two assists for the Orange County Blue Star in 2011. Rowe was selected No. 3 overall by the New England Revolution, while Silva was taken by Toronto FC with the No. 4 pick.
Silva’s UC Santa Barbara teammate Sam Garza, an alum of the Ventura County Fusion, went with the No. 6 selection to the San Jose Earthquakes, with a pair of Chicago Fire Premier alumni rounding out the Top 10, Austin Berry joining the Fire’s MLS roster and Ethan Finlay being selected by the Columbus Crew.
Chicago Fire Premier was the major story among USL PDL teams as the club broke its own record for a SuperDraft by having a remarkable 11 of its alumni selected. In addition to Berry and Finlay, Aaron Maund (Toronto), Andrew Duran (Seattle), Tommy Meyer (L.A. Galaxy), Calum Mallace (Montreal), Chris Estridge (Vancouver), Tyler Polak (New England), Brendan King (Portland), Greg Jordan (Philadelphia) and Kenney Walker (L.A. Galaxy) were all taken in the first two rounds.
Other PDL clubs also saw multiple players selected, with Reading United’s Wenger being joined by 2010 All-League selection Matt Hedges, taken by FC Dallas with the No. 11 pick, and Raymon Gaddis going to Reading’s MLS parent club the Philadelphia Union with the 35th selection. In addition to Silva, Orange County Blue Star’s 2011 All-League selection Chandler Hoffman was taken 13th overall by Philadelphia, while Jacob Hustedt of the Ventura County Fusion joined Garza in being taken by San Jose.
The Michigan Bucks duo of Luck Mkosana and Babayele Sodade were also both taken in the second round, going to the Chicago Fire and Seattle Sounders respectively, while Wenger’s former Carolina Dynamo teammate Warren Creavalle was selected by the Houston Dynamo. Finally, former Washington Crossfire goalkeeper Chris Blais joined Rowe in being picked, going to San Jose with the 34th pick.
The USL PDL has now had 111 alumni selected in the past three years of the MLS SuperDraft, an average of more than 70 percent of the selections made. The leading amateur soccer league in North American, the USL PDL continues to offer the opportunity for growth and development during the summer as players work toward their goals of turning professional.