MLS SuperDraft Results: First Round

Philadelphia, PA.-Schools out. After a whirlwind week which saw the league sign 12 players to Generation Adidas contracts and the courtship of Jozy Altidore continue, 29 college players found out their fate as the MLS SuperDraft kicked off in Philadelphia.

With the first pick in the MLS SuperDraft, Orlando City SC selected University of Connecticut forward Cyle Larin. Larin, who is currently playing for the Canadian National Team at the CONCACAF U-20 Championship, becomes the first-ever Canadian to be selected with the first overall pick.

New York City F.C. shocked the league by selecting Oregon State forward Khiry Shelton with the second overall pick. Shelton, who was the 2014 Pac-12 player of the year, will likely back up Designated Player David Villa and Patrick Mullins.

But the main storyline of the draft was the drop of University of Washington midfielder Cristian Roldan. Slotted by many to be taken at number 2, Roldan continued to slide down the draft. The Seattle Sounders, whom Roldan played for at the U-23 level, selected the Top Drawer Soccer Best XI winner with the sixteenth overall pick.

To select Roldan, the Sounders traded up to the 16th spot. In return their trade partner, Real Salt Lake, received the 27th pick and allocation money. Despite the SuperDraft being known for its trades, this was a relatively quiet draft with just one other trade occurring (Columbus and Colorado swapped the 14th and 19th overall picks).

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Perhaps the busiest team in the first round was Toronto FC who selected goalkeeper Alex Bono (6th,) defender Clement Simonin (9th,) and defender Skylar Thomas (11th) with their three picks. These additions, coupled with the addition of Generation Adidas’ Jay Chapman as a Homegrown Player, significantly changes their roster for the 2015 season.

Sporting Kansas City also had three picks in the first round, selecting a pair of midfielders, Connor Hallisey (10th) and Amadou Dia (20th,) and defender Saaed Abdul-Salaam (12th).

One other interesting pick from the first round was the New York Red Bulls selection of midfielder Leo Stolz with the 18th pick in the draft. Stolz, who scored 20 goals with UCLA last season, is a German citizen and has had interest in playing in Germany. Given that he has not signed a contract with MLS, the Red Bulls made a bold selection in taking him.

Full Dr.)aft Results:

1.) Orlando City SC-Cyle Larin (Forward/University of Connecticut)

2.)New York City FC- Khiry Shelton (Forward/Oregon State University)

3.) Montreal Impact- Romario Williams (Forward/University of Central Florida)

4.) San Jose Earthquakes- Fatai Alashe (Midfielder/Michigan State University)

5.) Portland Timbers-Nick Besler (Midfielder/ University of Notre Dame)

6.) Toronto FC- Alex Bono (Goalkeeper/ Syracuse)

7.) Chicago Fire- Matt Polster (Defender/Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville)

8.) Houston Dynamo- Zach Steinberger (Midfielder/Butler)

9.) Toronto FC-Clement Simonin (Defender/North Carolina StateUniversity)

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. Johns)

14.) Colorado Rapids-Axel Sjoberg (Defender/Marquette University)

15.) FC Dallas-Otis Earle (Defender/University of California-Riverside)

16.) Seattle Sounders- Cristian Roldan (Midfielder/Washington)

17.) D.C. United-Miguel Aguilar (Forward/University of San Francisco)

18.) New York Red Bulls-Leo Stolz (Midfielder/UCLA)

19.) Columbus Crew-Sergio Campbell (Defender/University of Connecticut)

20.) Sporting Kansas City-Amadou Dia (Midfield/Clemson University)

21.) Los Angeles Galaxy- Ignacio Magnato (Forward/Iona College)

Next: Cristian Roldan Slips All The Way To 16th In MLS SuperDraft

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