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38 players chosen in final rounds of 2014 MLS SuperDraft

MLSSuperDraft2014Logo (MLS)

By FRANCO PANIZO

The 2014 MLS SuperDraft came to a close on Tuesday afternoon, but not before 38 more players were chosen in advance of the upcoming MLS season.

UConn midfielder George Forchive and Indiana midfielder AJ Corrado were among the players selected during the final two rounds of the draft, which were by-and-large dominated by midfielders and forwards.

In total, 26 of the 38 picks were players at those positions, a stark comparison to the first two rounds in which teams mostly drafted defenders.

The last pick of the draft, which was held by the Seattle Sounders due them having a pick in the now-extinct Supplemental Draft, was Michigan midfielder Fabio Pereira.

The LA Galaxy also had a late pick at No. 72, but chose to pass instead of taking a player.

Here is a full recap of the third and fourth rounds of the 2014 MLS SuperDraft:

THIRD ROUND

39. Portland Timbers – George Forchive (UConn), midfielder

40. Chivas USA – Kris Tyrpak (Houston Baptist), midfielder

41. Sporting Kansas City – Peter Schmetz (UC Santa Barbara), defender

42. Columbus Crew – Kingsley “Fifi” Baiden (UC Santa Barbara), midfielder

43. FC Dallas – Nicholas Walker (Fairleigh Dickinson), defender

44. Philadelphia Union – Richard Marquez (Redlands), defender

45. Columbus Crew – Adam James Bedell (Detroit-Mercy), midfielder/forward

46. Philadelphia Union – Alex Sweetin (St. Louis), midfielder

47. San Jose Earthquakes – AJ Corrado (Indiana), midfielder

48. Montreal Impact – Pete Caringi (UMBC), forward

49. Colorado Rapids – Tolani Ibikunle (Wake Forest), defender

50. New England Revolution – Pierre Omanga (Southern New Hampshire), forward

51. Vancouver Whitecaps – Michael Kafari (New Mexico), midfielder

52. Philadelphia Union – Aodhan Quinn (Akron), midfielder

53. Real Salt Lake – Joey Dillon (Georgetown), midfielder

54. Houston Dynamo – Michael Lisch (New Mexico), goalkeeper

55. Seattle Sounders – Stefano Rijssell (International – Suriname), midfielder/forward

56. D.C. United – Zachery Barnes (Creighton), midfielder

57. Sporting Kansas City – Alex Martinez (NC State), midfielder

 

FOURTH ROUND

58. Vancouver Whitecaps – MacKenzie Pridham (Cal Poly), forward

59. Chivas USA – Michael Nwiloh (Georgia State), defender

60. Toronto FC – Kene Eze (Rutgers), forward

61. Chicago Fire – Zach Bolden (Denver), midfielder

62. FC Dallas – Ronny Santos Mendoza (International – Ecuador), defender

63. Philadelphia Union – Luca Gimenez (Wake Forest), midfielder

64. Vancouver Whitecaps – Michael Calderon (New Mexico), midfielder

65. Chicago Fire – Kadeem Dacres (UMBC), midfielder

66. San Jose Earthquakes – Devante Dubose (Virginia Tech), defender

67. Montreal Impact – Jordan Ongaro (San Diego State), forward

68. Colorado Rapids – Albert Edwards (Lindsay Wilson College), defender

69. D.C. United – Travis Golden (Campbell), defender

70. Montreal Impact – Daniel Jackson (Coker College), forward

71. Portland Timbers – Victor Chavez (UCLA), forward

72. LA Galaxy – PASS

73. Portland Timbers – Nikita Kotlov (Indiana), midfielder

74. San Jose Earthquakes – Billy Knutsen (American), goalkeeper

75. Chicago Fire – Bryan Ciesiulka (Marquette), midfielder

76. Sporting Kansas City – Reinaldo Brenes (Akron), forward

77. Seattle Sounders – Fabio Pereira (Michigan), midfielder

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What do you think of these draft picks? Surprised by anyone’s selection? Which teams had the best overall drafts?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Without the SuperDraft, Union fans would lose a national forum for their petulance…wouldn’t want to miss that.

    Props to LA for their academy production, and to the evollution of MLS academies in general. Looking forward to teams passing in the first round.

    Reply
  2. Being a UNM alumni it’s pretty sweet that all 4 players eligible from new Mexico were drafted. That means in the past 2 years 6 players have been drafted 3 in the first 2 rounds. Sandoval and Blake from what I understand did rather well last season I hope the next 4 all make their respective squads and see some time

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  3. I do believe that the draft will slowly go to three rounds and then only two, as MLS reaches 24 teams. Much like the NBA, most of the players might do better being free agents and trying to make a team that is light at the position they play. I would keep the first two round as it helps with parity and it just pi$$ off the Eurosnubs.

    Reply
    • how does it help with parity? If you really wanted a league with parity then you would just make every player enter the draft. Or you would get rid of the DP rule. The affect on parity the draft has is so minute that its hardly an argument for its existence.

      The draft exists because MLS doesn’t want a bidding war for players. Not because of parity.

      Reply
  4. Franco, who is Ronny Santos Mendoza (Ecuador)? Was he at the combine, or did FC Dallas trade for the international spot to get some kid that they were scouting in South America?

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  5. Philly seems to have won the draft. Obviously, time will tell, but they seemed to collect a good crop of talent. They also increased their allocation money. Blake (#1), Ribeiro (#6), Cope (#9), Derschang (#39), Marquez (#23), Sweetin (UR), Quinn (#31), Gimenez (#37) (SBI Board Ranking). Some people may dislike the idea of the draft, but the fact remains having effective drafts is key to having sustained success in the MLS. College players are cheap developmental projects and sometimes key contributors early on. SKC (Besler, Myers, Zusi, Sapong, Dwyer, Peterson) and RSL (Beltran, Schuler, Velasquez, Sandoval) are two examples of how beneficial mining the draft can be. Due to their ability to draft and develop these players they are also able to keep their cap situation under control. This avoids having to dump key players due to cap restraints and actually develop chemistry and familiarity within the systems that they run. If I were a Philly fan, I would be very excited in the foundation that the organization has continued to build upon.

    Reply
    • To maintain competitiveness. It obviously hasn’t worked for every team, but most teams start with reasonable hopes of making the playoffs. That’s big when your team is struggling with attendance and sponsorships.

      Also… that’s why they have home grown players and DPs. That way teams aren’t being punished for developing their own players and identity.

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      • Good Jeremy,

        Do us a solid and don’t feed the whiners. K doesn’t like the draft and his mom told him to man up and quit whining, so he came here instead

    • LA just signed two more homegrown players and are about to sign another… why draft players when you can produce more than you can use?

      Reply
    • They are selling more quality players from their academy than they are drafting. Every player they draft that likely won’t receive significant playing time is just yanking playing time and development from an academy player. I would say they have their priorities right.

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      • +1 a team that is sitting on one of the bigger talent pools in the world, So. California, doesn’t need to fool around with the fourth round!

    • Our modus operandi in recent years has been to minimize salary expense at GK since the backups rarely play anyway (for good or ill). Deric is up to $80K+ and Marscheider is at $40K+. Since Kinnear treats backup keepers as reserve foddder and potted plants, he probably thinks he can free cap money by squeezing Deric out.

      Cascio is a little cheaper than Driver might be. And on and on.

      Far be it from me to point out the Texans’ experience with saving money by incrementally chopping the second tier talent. If the marquee players get hurt your remaining roster is a bunch of mediocrities whose roster virtue was their cap savings. Voila, 2-14.

      Reply
      • Well, checking the team’s official page, 2 things stick out:

        1.) Erich Marscheider’s no longer on the roster

        2.) A quote by Dom in the announcement article about Lisch states “We always want to carry three goalkeepers,” which suggests Marscheider is no longer with the team.

      • The Dynamo, like the Texans, rely heavily on a starting set of marquee players. If they get too cute with the people making out the roster behind the starters, and then sustain callups and injuries and have to play the Cascios and Carrascos at the tail end of the roster, are they any good of a soccer team?

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