Force Selects Nine Players In MISL College Draft

February 22, 2005 - Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2)
Cleveland Force News Release


CLEVELAND, OHIO - Cleveland Force President and General Manager Paul Garofolo announced the team selected nine players in the annual Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) College Draft held today via a teleconference.

The MISL Draft consisted of one Territorial Round and Four Numerical Rounds. The order of selection, based on each team's win percentage from their last completed regular season, is as follows: California Cougars, Chicago Storm, St. Louis Steamers, Cleveland Force, Kansas City Comets, Philadelphia KiXX, Baltimore Blast and Milwaukee Wave. The Force was permitted to draft 3rd in Rounds 1-4 (excluding the Territorial Round) due to the approved trade between Monterrey and Cleveland dated 3/10/04 involving Monterrey's four draft picks.

"Omid and I are pleased with the results of today's MISL Draft. We managed to select five of the top six guys we had on our draft board. That is a pretty good selection percentage," stated Garofolo.

With the Territorial Selection and the fourth selection, Cleveland selected Cincinnati native and midfielder Jamal Shteiwi out of the University of Kentucky. Shteiwi, a four-year letter winner with the Wildcats, appeared in 62 games and recorded 23 goals while adding 25 assists for a total of 71 points. Jamal was selected the Mid American Conference (MAC) Player of the Year in his final two seasons as well as two-time first-team All-MAC selection.

In the first round, the Force selected midfielder Danny Mongello out of the University of Maryland Baltimore County with the 11th selection and defender Michael Lookingland out of Bucknell University with the 13th pick. Mongello, a four-year letter winner, appeared in 10 games last season but did not record a goal or an assist. Danny appeared in 59 of 67 games and recorded eight assists during his career. He was named UMBC's Most Improved Player and a first-team All-America East Conference selection during his junior campaign. Lookingland, a four-year letter winner and two-year co-captain, recorded four goals and added nine assists for a total of 17 points. Michael was a three-time All-Patriot League selection and a third-team All-American pick.

With the 20th and 22nd selections in the second round, Cleveland selected midfielder Joe DiBuono out of Robert Morris University and midfielder Ian Rodway from the University of Maryland. DiBuono, a native of Vaudreuil, Quebec, finished his career at Robert Morris as the third leading scorer in the Northeast Conference with 17 points on six goals and five assists. He also finished fourth in the conference in assists. Rodway, a four-year letter winner, appeared in 91 games for the Terrapins and tallied five goals and seven assists for 17 points.

In the third round, the Force took midfielder Gabe Bernstein from Penn State University with the 29 pick and defender Mike Pennacchia from UMBC with the 31st selection. Bernstein, a two-year captain and four-year letter winner, appeared in 70 games while notching six goal and four assists for 16 points. Pennacchia finished his career with the Retrievers with four goals and 10 assists for 18 points. A two-time captain and four-year lettermen, Mike made 55 consecutive starts in his first three campaigns and saw action in 15 of 17 games his senior season.

With their fourth and final round selections, Cleveland took defender Ryan Kelly from St. John's University and defender Jason Hernandez out of Seton Hall University with the 38th and 39th selections respectively. Kelly, whose father played for the Philadelphia Fever in the original MISL, played two seasons for the Red Storm after transferring from the University of Virginia. Ryan recorded nine goals and three assists for 21 points at St. John's and had 10 goals and four assists for 34 points for the Cavaliers. Hernandez, a tri-captain, finished his career with six assists. He was a two-time, third-team adidas/NSCAA Mid-Atlantic Region All-American team.



Major Indoor Soccer League 2 Stories from February 22, 2005


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