PDL Feature
Thursday, December 13, 2012
TAMPA, Fla. – The PDL will again be well represented at the MLS Combine, set to be held in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. from January 11-15, with 38 of the 54 players announced in the initial list released by the league having PDL experience. Among the marquee names in the list are players such as Reading United’s Ryan Finley and Jose Gomez and the Austin Aztex’s Dillon Powers, all of whom are projected as first-round selections at the 2013 MLS SuperDraft.
Reading United leads all PDL teams with seven alumni invited to the combine. In addition to Finley and Gomez, who last week were both named to the NSCAA All-America First Team, the list includes Ian Christianson, Will Bates, Paul Wyatt and Greg Cochrane, who this past summer was an All-Eastern Conference selection before having a strong fall for Louisville.
Other 2012 PDL Playoffs sides are also well represented, with the Carolina Dynamo having five former players invited. Among those are Scott Goodwin, Jordan Gafa and Donnie Smith, who were part of the club’s run to the 2012 PDL Championship Game. The Portland Timbers U-23s’ Erik Hurtado and Emery Welshmen lead their club’s contingent, while Powers is joined by fellow Austin Aztex standout Blake Smith.
The proportion of players invited to the MLS Combine matches the PDL’s percentage of players selected in the past three MLS SuperDrafts, with 111 players having been selected from 2010-12. Those players have included former Combine invitees Austin Berry, an alumni of the Chicago Fire PDL, who was named the 2012 MLS Rookie of the Year for the Fire’s senior team, and Reading United’s C.J. Sapong, who was named the 2011 MLS Rookie of the Year after a standout season for Sporting Kansas City.
A complete list of the PDL players invited to the MLS Combine can be found below.
2013 MLS Player Combine
January 11-15, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Will Bates – Reading United
Ian Christianson – Reading United
Marc Cintron – CJ Spartans
Greg Cochrane – Reading United
Machael David – Tacoma Tide
Danchrisandre Delgado – Orange County Blue Star
Ryan Finley – Reading United
Ben Fisk – Washington Crossfire
Shaun Foster – Jersey Express
Joe Franco – LA Misioneros
Jordan Gafa – Carolina Dynamo
Jose Gomez – Reading United
Scott Goodwin – Carolina Dynamo
Coleton Henning – Kansas City Brass
Erik Hurtado – Portland Timbers U-23s
Larry Jackson – IMG Bradenton Academics
Taylor Kemp – Real Colorado Foxes
Kory Kindle – Ventura County Fusion
Jonathan Mendoza – Orlando City U23
David Meves – Chicago Fire PDL
Fernando Monge – Sounders FC U23
Colin Murphy – Worcester Hydra
Jimmy Nealis – Long Island Rough Riders
Kofi Opare – Michigan Bucks
Dillon Powers – Austin Aztex
Andrew Ribeiro – Portland Timbers U-23s
Eric Schoenle – Reading United
Blake Smith – Austin Aztex
Donald Smith – Carolina Dynamo
Yannick Smith – Virginia Beach Piranhas
Luke Spencer – Cincinnati Kings
Brad Stuver – Akron Summit Assault
Chris Thomas – Carolina Dynamo
Dylan Tucker-Ganges – Portland Timbers U-23s
Emery Welshman – Portland Timbers U-23s
Daniel Wenzel – Carolina Dynamo
Daniel Withrow – Michigan Bucks
Paul Wyatt – Reading United