Jason Garey Among Four Standouts Signing MLS Contracts
Published on January 11, 2006 under Major League Soccer (MLS) News Release
NEW YORK (Wednesday, January 11, 2006) - Major League Soccer today announced that Jason Garey, winner of the 2005 Missouri Athletic Club (M.A.C.) Hermann Trophy as the top Division I college soccer player in the country, and three other standout college players have signed Major League Soccer contracts. In addition to Garey, Indiana midfielder Brian Plotkin, and youth internationals Mehdi Ballouchy, a midfielder from Santa Clara University, and Yura Movsisyan, a forward from Pasadena City College, have also signed contracts to play in MLS.
The four players will join 11 Generation adidas and 59 college players at the 2006 adidas MLS Combine, which will take place at the Home Depot Center from January 12-15, 2006. All 74 players will be eligible for selection in the 2006 MLS SuperDraft, which will take place on Friday, January 20 in the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia in conjunction with the annual NSCAA Convention.
The 22-year-old Garey capped off a tremendous college career in December 2005, leading the nation in scoring with 22 goals and helping Maryland win its first NCAA soccer championship since 1968. In his four-year career, Garey played in 90 of the 91 games for Maryland, finishing as the school's all-time leading goal-scorer with 60 goals. The Louisiana native is a two-time NSCAA/adidas All-America selection and was a semifinalist for the M.A.C. Hermann Trophy in 2004. He was named the NSCAA/adidas Scholar Athlete of the Year, becoming just the third men's player to win both National Player of the Year and Scholar Athlete of the Year in the same year.
Also signing MLS contracts are Hermann Trophy runner-up Plotkin, who helped Indiana win back-to-back NCAA Championships in 2003 and 2004; Ballouchy, a former member of the Moroccan U-17 national team; and Movsisyan, a forward from Azerbaijan who scored 18 goals in 2005 for Pasadena City College. Ballouchy and Movsisyan will occupy a Youth International slot on their MLS roster.
Garey, Plotkin, Ballouchy and Sims were both selected as NSCAA / adidas First Team All-Americans following the 2005 college season. Movsisyan was selected to the All-South Coast Conference First Team.
Player Pos. Age Hometown College National Team All-American
Jason Garey F 21 Gonzales, LA Maryland -- First Team
Brian Plotkin M 21 Naperville, IL Indiana U.S. U-17 First Team
Mehdi Ballouchy M 22 Casablanca, Morocco Santa Clara Morocco U-17 First Team
Yura Movsisyan F 18 Pasadena, CA Pasadena City College-- --
Additional Notes:
Drew Helm, a forward from Florida Atlantic University, has been invited to participate in the MLS Combine. Goalkeepers Adam Schuerman (UConn) and Ryan Carr (Harford) will be pool players and rotate teams Following are the rosters for the 2006 adidas MLS Combine:
adidas 7406
GK - Andy Gruenbaum (Kentucky), D - Jeff Curtin (Georgetown), D - Trevor McEachron (Old Dominion), D - Marvell Wynne (Generation adidas - UCLA), D/M - Stephen Shirley (Virginia Commonwealth), M - David Chun (Southern Methodist), M - Jorge Flor (Oral Roberts), M - Mpho Moloi (Connecticut), M - John Queeley (NC State), M - Yohann Mauger (Akron), M - Sacha Kljestan (Generation adidas - Seton Hall), F - Matt Groenwald (St. John's), F - Karim Dietz (Birmingham Southern), F - Duke Hashimoto (Southern Methodist), F - David Leung (Oral Roberts), F - Ross McKenzie (Akron), F - Jacob Peterson (Generation adidas - Indiana)
Head Coach: Ken Lolla (University of Louisville)
Assistant Coach: Sean Kenny (FC Westchester)
adidas Plus 10
GK - Ray Burse (Ohio State), D - Corey Farabi (Drake), D - Willis Forko (Connecticut), D - Michael Dello-Russo (Maryland), D - Jordan Russolillo (Southern Connecticut), D - Anthony Noriega (George Mason), M/D - Patrick Ianni (Generation adidas - UCLA), M/D - Justin Moore (Clemson), M - Blake Camp (Duke), M - Lance Watson (New Mexico), M - Matt Wieland (Creighton), M - Mehdi Ballouchy (Santa Clara), F - Jason Garey (Maryland), F - Omar Jarun (Dayton), F - Aaron King (N.C. State), F - Jeff Rowland (New Mexico), F - Yura Movsisyan (Pasadena City College), F - Drew Helm (Florida Atlantic)
Head Coach: Shaun Docking (Coastal Carolina University)
Assistant Coach: Brian Monoghan (Texas Soccer Club)
adidas Predator Absolute
GK - Pete Dzubay (Michigan), D - Kyle Veris (Ohio State), D - Danny Wynn (St. Louis), D - Jed Zayner (Generation adidas - Indiana), D/M - Jeff Carroll (St. John's), M - Brian Devlin (Penn State), M - Justin Moose (Wake Forest), M - Brian Plotkin (Indiana), M - Brandon Moss (New Mexico), M - Dax McCarty (Generation adidas - North Carolina), M/F - Danny Kramer (Duke), F/M - Mike Ambersley (Indiana), F - Christopher Joyce (Franklin Pierce), F - Tony Donatelli (Temple), F - Ryan Johnson (Oregon State), F - Kyle Brown (Tulsa), F - Kei Kamara (Generation adidas - Cal State Dominguez Hills), Willie Sims (Generation adidas - Cal State Northridge)
Head Coach: Mike Freitag (Indiana University)
Assistant Coach: Brian Doyle (Michigan Hawks)
adidas Telstar
GK - Eric Kronberg (California), D - Chris Lancos (Maryland), D - Kenny Bertz (Maryland), D - Jordan Harvey (UCLA), D - Tyson Wahl (California), D/M - Nathan Sturgis (Generation adidas - Clemson), M/D - Daniel Wasson (Tulsa), M - Mike Chabala (Washington), M/F - Dan Paladini (Cal State Northridge), M - Darren Spicer (Princeton), M - Blake Wagner (Generation adidas - U.S. U-17), F - Brian Cvilikas (Old Dominion), F - Calen Carr (California), F - Kelechi Igwe (Santa Clara), F - Jimmy Klatter (Eastern Illinois), F - Dominic Oduro (Virginia Commonwealth), F - Josmer Altidore (Generation adidas - U.S. U-17)
Head Coach: Kevin Grimes (California)
Assistant Coach: Bryan Yorke (FC United)
Major League Soccer Stories from January 11, 2006
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