By FRANCO PANIZO
There was plenty of forward talent in the 2015 rookie class, and it was that position that led the way in Philadelphia as the 2015 MLS Draft got started.
Orlando City selected Connecticut forward Cyle Larin with the first pick of the draft, and New York City FC and the Montreal Impact followed suit by taking Oregon State’s Khiry Shelton and Romario Williams of Central Florida, respectively.
The San Jose Earthquakes brought some diversity to the party at pick No. 4, choosing Michigan State midfielder Fatai Alashe, and the Portland Timbers opted to go with midfielder Nick Besler of Notre Dame to round out the top five selections.
Orlando City and NYCFC’s draft hauls saw them add more bodies to their expansion rosters. In addition to Larin, the Lions added NC State defender Conor Donovan and Tulsa forward Akeil Barrett in the second round. New York City, meanwhile, grabbed midfielder Connor Brandt of San Diego with the 23rd selection.
Some of the other notable picks were the New York Red Bulls taking UCLA midfielder and 2015 Hermann Trophy winner Leo Stolz at No. 18, and D.C. United ending Maryland midfielder Dan Metzger’s free fall with the final selection in the second round.
The third and fourth rounds of the MLS Draft will take place on January 20 via a conference call.
Here’s a full rundown of the first and second rounds of the 2015 MLS Draft (* indicates a player on a Generation adidas contract):
FIRST ROUND
1. Orlando City | *Cyle Larin | Forward | Connecticut
2. New York City FC | Khiry Shelton | Forward | Oregon State
3. Montreal Impact | *Romario Williams | Forward | Central Florida
4. San Jose Earthquakes | Fatai Alashe | Midfielder | Michigan State
5. Portland Timbers | Nick Besler | Midfielder | Notre Dame
6. Toronto FC | *Alex Bono | Goalkeeper | Syracuse
7. Chicago Fire | Matt Polster | Defender | Southern Illinois-Edwardsville
8. Houston Dynamo | Zach Steinberger | Midfielder | Butler
9. Toronto FC | Clement Simonin | Defender | NC State
10. Sporting Kansas City | Connor Hallisey | Midfielder | California
11. Toronto FC | Skylar Thomas | Defender | Syracuse
12. Sporting Kansas City | Saad Abdul-Salaam | Defender | Akron
13. Vancouver Whitecaps | Tim Parker | Defender | St. John’s
14. Colorado Rapids | Axel Sjoberg | Defender | Marquette
15. FC Dallas | Otis Earle | Defender | California-Riverside
16. Seattle Sounders | *Christian Roldan | Midfielder | Washington
17. D.C. United | Miguel Aguilar | Forward | San Franscisco
18. New York Red Bulls | Leo Stolz | Midfielder | UCLA
19. Columbus Crew | Sergio Campbell | Defender | Connecticut
20. Sporting Kansas City | Amadou Dia | Midfielder | Clemson
21. LA Galaxy | Ignacio Maganto | Forward | Iona
SECOND ROUND
22. Orlando City | *Conor Donovan | Defender | NC State
23. New York City FC | Connor Brandt | Midfielder | San Diego
24. Portland Timbers | Andy Thoma | Defender | Washington
25. Orlando City | Akeil Barrett | Forward | Tulsa
26. Colorado Rapids | Joseph Greenspan | Defender | U.S. Naval Academy
27. Real Salt Lake | Boyd Okwuono | Defender | Defender | North Carolina
28. Chicago Fire | Kingsley Bryce | Forward | St. Louis
29. Toronto FC | Wesley Charpie | Defender | South Florida
30. Houston Dynamo | Oumar Ballo | Defender | Maryland-Baltimore County
31. Philadelphia Union | Dzenan Catic | Forward | Davenport
32. Portland Timbers | Christian Volesky | Forward | Southern Illinois-Edwardsville
33. Seattle Sounders | Tyler Miller | Goalkeeper | Northwestern
34. Portland Timbers | Kharlton Belmar | Forward | Virginia Commonwealth
35. Columbus Crew | Sagi Lev-Ari | Forward | Cal State-Northridge
36. Houston Dynamo | Rob Lovejoy | Forward | North Carolina
37. Toronto FC | Edwin Rivas | Forward | Cal State-Northridge
38. Vancouver Whitecaps | Kay Banjo | Forward | Maryland-Baltimore County
39. New York Red Bulls | Stefano Bonomo | Forward | California
40. Seattle Sounders | Oneil Fisher | Midfielder | New Mexico
41. Philadelphia Union | Eric Bird | Midfielder | Virginia
42. D.C. United | Dan Metzger | Midfielder | Maryland
TEAM-BY-TEAM SELECTIONS
Chicago Fire (2): Matt Polster (7); Kingsley Bryce (28)
Colorado Rapids (2): Axel Sjoberg (14); Joseph Greenspan (26)
Columbus Crew SC (2): Sergio Campbell (19); Sagi Lev-Ari (35)
D.C. United (2): Miguel Aguilar (17); Dan Metzger (42)
FC Dallas (1): Otis Earle (15)
Houston Dynamo (3): Zach Steinberger (8); Oumar Ballo (30); Rob Lovejoy (36)
Sporting Kansas City (3): Connor Hallisey (10); Saad Abdul-Salaam (12); Amadou Dia (20)
LA Galaxy (1): Ignacio Maganto (21)
Montréal Impact (1): Romario Williams (3)
New England Revolution (0)
New York Red Bulls (2): Leo Stolz (18); Stefano Bonomo (39)
New York City FC (2): Khiry Shelton (2); Connor Brandt (23)
Orlando City SC (3): Cyle Larin (1); Conor Donovan (22); Akeil Barrett (25)
Philadelphia Union (2): Dzenan Catic (31); Eric Bird (41)
Portland Timbers (4): Nick Besler (5), Andy Thoma (24); Christian Volesky (32); Kharlton Belmar (34)
Real Salt Lake (1): Boyd Okwuonu (27)
San Jose Earthquakes (1): Fatai Alashe (4)
Seattle Sounders FC (3): Cristian Roldan (16); Tyler Miller (33); Oniel Fisher (40)
Toronto FC (5): Alex Bono (6); Clement Simonin (9); Skylar Thomas (11); Wesley Charpie (29); Edwin Rivas (37)
Vancouver Whitecaps FC (2): Tim Parker (13); Kay Banjo (38)
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What do you think of the way the 2015 MLS Draft played out? Who were the biggest steals? Which teams had the best first day? Who was the biggest reach? Think Larin will contribute this season?
Share your thoughts below.
I would love to see a break down at the end of the season how many players started with senior teams, played with USL affiliate, rode bench.
Not hard to go through previous year’s drafts. Use wikipedia.
WTF, no Revs selections in the first two rounds??
The Krafts couldn’t come up with bus fare to Philly and back??
I assume they traded away those picks, but for what and for whom?
Anybody have any ideas?
They traded their 1st round pick for Teal Bunbury in January 2014. And they traded this year’s 2nd round pick during today’s draft to Seattle for “future considerations.”
Supposedly they are getting Sean Okoli from Seattle. Not a rookie, but only 21.
Toronto FC. Had three first-round draft picks, got the best keeper and two of the top 3-4 defenders in the draft.
Combine that with Altidore – who will want to be there and will likely stay healthy for more than half Toronto’s games, as Jermaine Defoe did not – and I’d say Toronto had the top draft and it isn’t close.
If they can just find a coach, they could be much-improved.