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Force acquires nine players in draft

September 30, 2004 - Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2)
Cleveland Force News Release


CLEVELAND, OHIO- The Cleveland Force selected nine players during the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) Dispersal Draft that allocated players from the Dallas Sidekicks roster to the other nine active teams.

Dallas will be in an inactive status for the 2004-05 season but should return in the 2005-06 season along with the expansion California Cougars. The Sidekicks were allowed to protect four players that will have to return to Dallas in the 2005-06 season. The four players protected by the Sidekicks were Fabinho, Leo Pernia, Ricardinho and Sagu.

The draft order for each round went as follows: Chicago Storm, Monterrey Fury, San Diego Sockers, St. Louis Steamers, Cleveland Force, Kansas City Comets, Philadelphia KiXX, Baltimore Blast and Milwaukee Wave.

With the fifth pick in the first round, Cleveland selected Sagu, a goalkeeper from Sao Paulo, Brazil. He enters his sixth year in the league, having spent all previous seasons in Dallas. Sagu has a career save percentage of .779, with a winning percentage of .495. In the postseason he has six wins with just two losses, only giving up 26 goals for a save percentage of .776. In both the 2001-2002 and 2002-2003 seasons Sagu was named World Indoor Soccer League (WISL) Goalkeeper of the Year, and to the first-team All-WISL. Last season he went 14-8, with a save percentage of .734, and finished second in the league in goals-against average with 4.34.

In the second round the Force selected two players. With the 14th pick, Cleveland selected defender Eric Dade. Dade comes into his eleventh year spending eight seasons with the Sidekicks. Eric has vast playoff experience, being in the postseason all but one year of his professional career. In his career, he has played in 263 regular season games, accumulating 152 points on 92 goals and 60 assists. In addition, Dade has accumulated 257 blocks.

The 18th selection was acquired from the Milwaukee Wave in a trade on June 9 that sent forward Lee Edgerton to the Wave for forward Sipho Sibiya, who was acquired from the St. Louis Steamers for forward Joe Reiniger, and the draft pick. Cleveland selected forward Kevin Jeffrey, who played this past A-League season with the Richmond Kickers. Jeffrey, a native of Trinidad, scored eight goals and added four assists in 26 games for Richmond. Kevin was a standout player at Virginia Commonwealth for two years, receiving All-American honors in 1999.

In the third round, the Force drafted defender Mark Allen. Allen, a native of Tyler, Texas, has played for the Indiana Blast of the A-League and will look to make his MISL debut this season.

Cleveland selected All-Star forward David Doyle with the 32nd pick in the fourth round. Doyle, a long-time impact player for the Sidekicks, ranks among the top 20 of almost every indoor offensive category including assists and short-handed goals. He is also in the top ten for goals and points scored, and in the top five for game-winning and power play goals. Doyle has played in eight All-Star games, was the WISL Most Valuable Player in 1998, and has been named to the first-team All-League on six occasions.

Cleveland rounded out the Dispersal Draft by selecting defender Michael Curtis (5th), midfielder and former U.S. National team member Chad Deering (6th), Cleveland native and former Cleveland defender Wes Sechrist (7th), and current Dallas Burn forward Bobby Rhine (8th).

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