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2009 adidas MLS Player Combine To Feature 65 of College Soccer's Top Division I Seniors

December 10, 2008 - Major League Soccer (MLS) News Release


NEW YORK (Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008) - Major League Soccer today announced the initial list of 65 college seniors from 45 Division I schools who have been invited to participate in the 2009 adidas MLS Player Combine. The annual player combine will be held at Lockhart Stadium in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Jan. 9-13, 2009. The game schedule for the player combine is also included below.

The coaching and management staffs of all 15 MLS teams will be in attendance to scout talent at the 2009 adidas MLS Player Combine, which concludes two days before the 2009 MLS SuperDraft. At the 2008 MLS SuperDraft 43 of the 56 players drafted participated in the 2008 adidas MLS Player Combine; 12 combine players were selected in the first round. The 2009 MLS SuperDraft will be held on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009 in St. Louis, Mo.

The list of invitees is highlighted by eight players who are semifinalists for the 2008 Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy, NCAA soccer's equivalent of the Heisman Trophy. The MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalists invited to the player combine include Wake Forest University's Sam Cronin and Marcus Tracey, Michigan State University's Doug DeMartin, Duke University's Mike Grella, Creighton University's Andrei Gotsmanov, University of California-Santa Barbara's Chris Pontius, Indiana University's Brad Ring, and UNC Charlotte's Chris Salvaggionne. The 2008 MAC Hermann Trophy finalists will be announced on Dec. 12, 2008, and the winner is announced on Jan. 9, 2009.

The initial player list was determined by a select panel of Division I college coaches representing all conferences who nominated and voted for players in conjunction with MLS coaches. Youth players from the Generation adidas program will join additional collegiate players from NCAA Division II and III schools, NAIA schools and Division I alternates to finalize the 2009 adidas Player Combine. The final player list and team assignments will be announced in the coming weeks.

The 2009 adidas MLS Player Combine will separate all players into four teams and feature two games per day at Lockhart Stadium on Jan. 10, 11 and 13. Each team will be led by an experienced Division I coach and will be assigned a youth coach, to be named at a later date. Santa Clara University Head Coach, Cam Rast has been selected to coach Team adidas Tiro. Caleb Porter, a former MLS player and current assistant coach at Indiana University will coach Team Predator PowerSwerve. Entering his ninth season at Providence University, former MLS player Chaka Daley will lead Team adiTunit. University of Notre Dame Head Coach Bobby Clark will lead Team adiPure.

The Sheraton Yankee Clipper Hotel and the Harbor Beach Marriott will serve as the official headquarters of the adidas MLS Player Combine and the host hotel for players and coaching staffs.

Media interested in securing credentials for the 2009 adidas MLS Player Combine should contact MLS Sports Communications Manager Stephen Rodriguez at 212-450-1227 or stephen.rodriguez@mlsnet.com.

The game schedule and the 65 players selected, broken down by position and by school are included below:

MLS PLAYER COMBINE GAME SCHEDULE

All games are open to the public. All times eastern and schedule is subject to change.

Saturday, January 10

2:30 PM Predator PowerSwerve vs. adiTunit (Lockhart Stadium)

4:30 PM adiPure vs. adidas Tiro (Lockhart Stadium)

Sunday, January 11

3:00 PM adiTunit vs. adidas Tiro (Lockhart Stadium)

5:00 PM Predator PowerSwerve vs adiPure (Lockhart Stadium)

Tuesday, January 13

9:15 AM Predator PowerSwerve vs adidas Tiro (Lockhart Stadium)

11:15 AM adiPure vs adiTunit (Lockhart Stadium)

2009 ADIDAS MLS PLAYER COMBINE LIST BY POSITION

GOALKEEPERS (7): Chris Brown (Boston College); Evan Bush (University of Akron); Steward Ceus (University of Albany); Alec Dufty (University of Evansville); Neal Kitson (St. John's University); Milos Kocic (Loyola College); Sean Milligan (Dartmouth College)

DEFENDERS (20): Lyle Adams (Wake Forest University); Calum Angus (Saint Louis University); Trevor Banks (Old Dominion University); Darius Barnes (Duke University); Rhett Bernstein (Brown University); Matt Besler (Notre Dame University); Evan Brown (Wake Forest University); Oscar Castillo (University of Connecticut); Chris Clements (University of Tulsa); AJ Delagarza (University of Maryland); Paul Gerstenberger (Boston College); David Hertel (Michigan State University); Wes Knight (College of Charleston); Otto Loewy (Winthrop University); Yohance Marshall (University of South Florida); Ryan Mirsky (Southern Methodist University); Babjide Ogunbiyi (Santa Clara University); Kyle Russell (Coastal Carolina University); Seth Sinovic (Creighton University); Jack Traynor (Notre Dame University)

MIDFIELDERS/FORWARDS (39): Kwame Adjeman-Pamboe (George Mason University); Quincy Amarikwa (University of California-Davis); Brandon Barklage (Saint Louis University); Josh Boateng (Liberty University); Graciano Brito (Quinnipiac University); Pav Castenada (Duke University); Aaron Clapham (University of Louisville); Raphael Cox (University of Washington); Sam Cronin (Wake Forest University); Dylan Curtis (University of California-Davis); Doug DeMartin (Michigan State University); Jokul Elisabetarson (University of North Carolina-Greensboro); Michael Fucito (Harvard University); Andrei Gotsmanov (Creighton University); Mike Grella (Duke University); Alex Grendi (University of Pennsylvania); Juan Guerra (Florida International University); Jeffrey Harwell (Southern Methodist University); Bryan Irwin (University of Portland); Richard Jata (Campbell University); George John (University of Washington); Keum Sung Kim (Loyola University); Michael Lahoud (Wake Forest University); Ryan Maduro (Providence College); Patrick Murray (Furman University); Kyle Patterson (Saint Louis University); Nick Perra (University of California-Santa Barbara); Chris Pontius (University of California-Santa Barbara); Matt Poole (University of Virginia); Akeem Priestley (University of Connecticut); Daniel Revivo (Winthrop University); Tosaint Ricketts (University of Wisconsin-Green Bay); Brad Ring (Indiana University); Chris Salvaggionne (University of North Carolina-Charlotte); Jordan Seabrook (University of South Florida); Marcus Tracy (Wake Forest University); Nick Zimmerman (James Madison University); Graham Zusi (University of Maryland)

ADIDAS MLS PLAYER COMBINE LIST BY SCHOOL

Boston College

Chris Brown

Paul Gerstenberger

Brown University

Rhett Bernstein

Campbell University

Richard Jata

Coastal Carolina University

Kyle Russell

College of Charleston

Wes Knight

Creighton University

Andrei Gotsmanov

Seth Sinovic

Dartmouth University

Sean Milligan

Duke University

Darrius Barnes

Mike Grella

Pav Castaneda

Florida International University

Juan Guerra

Furman University

Patrick Murray

George Mason University

Kwame Adjeman-Pamboe

Harvard University

Michael Fucito

Indiana University

Brad Ring

James Madison University

Nick Zimmerman

Liberty University

Josh Boateng

Loyola College

Milos Kocic

Loyola University

Keum Sung Kim

Michigan State University

Doug DeMartin

David Hertel

Old Dominion University

Trevor Banks

Providence College

Ryan Maduro

Quinnipiac University

Graciano Brito

Saint Louis University

Calum Angus

Brandon Barklage

Kyle Patterson

Santa Clara University

Babajide Ogunbiyi

Southern Methodist University

Jeffrey Harwell

Ryan Mirsky

St. John's University

Neal Kitson

University of Akron

Evan Bush

University of Albany

Steward Ceus

University of California - Davis

Quincy Amarikwa

Dylan Curtis

University of California - Santa Barbara

Nick Perera

Chris Pontius

University of Connecticut

Oscar Castillo

Akeem Priestley

University of Evansville

Alec Dufty

University of Louisville

Aaron Clapham

University of Maryland

AJ Delagarza

Graham Zusi

University of Norte Dame

Matt Besler

Jack Traynor

University of North Carolina - Charlotte

Chris Salvaggione

University of North Carolina - Greensboro

Jokull Elisabetarson

University of Pennsylvania

Alex Grendi

University of Portland

Bryan Irwin

University of South Florida

Yohance Marshall

Jordan Seabrook

University of Tulsa

Chris Clements

University of Virginia

Matt Poole

University of Washington

Raphael Cox

George John

University of Wisconsin - Green Bay

Tosaint Ricketts

Wake Forest University

Lyle Adams

Evan Brown

Sam Cronin

Michael Lahoud

Marcus Tracy

Winthrop University

Otto Loewy

Daniel Revivo

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