MLS Draft : Townsend in 1st Round; Terps Unscathed by Early Outs

[Fekula]

Steve Goff of the WashPost is saying that Townsend may be taken by DC United at the #7 pick in tomorrow's draft, simply because he can put the ball in the back of the net and United badly needs that. That would be nice if it works out.

I am posting a link here to the draft anaylsys by SI's Avi Creditor -- the most detailed I have seen -- which shows that Maryland loses only the graduating Townsend among top players entering the draft. There are several good underclassmen coming out this year and none of them from Maryland.

This dispells the notion that it is always Maryland that sufferes from the early departures. Last year, yes, we lost Matt Kassel, Ethan White, and Zac MacMaoth. But there are years like this when nobody leaves Maryland early, and in fact, there are some programs that are getting burned this year: Louisville, UNC, UCLA (2), Louisville, Akron, Creighton, Duke, and UConn are among those losing at least one really good player to the Generation adidas program.

SI MLS Draft Preview

 

[TMAN]

Definitely helps Maryland next year in the ACC. North Carolina lost Schuler and Martinez early so that definitely knocks them down a few rungs on the pecking order. Wake Forest is a team to watch next year but Maryland may be the fav in the ACC next year. Spring season for this squad should be interesting...

t

 

[Fekula]

Agreed and...

UNC, Wake, UVA, and Duke all lose good people to the pros. I haven't really studied the other rosters so will assume based on recent history that BC will still be good; NC State seems like a work in progress under new management; Clemson, could also challenge, but overall Terps seem to have the upper hand, at least on paper.

btw, did you or anybody watch the US Soccer Convention from Kansas City on FSC? If you missed it they are re-broadcasting it tomorrow afternoon at 3pm. Cirovski was on the panel on college soccer. The interview with Jurgen was also worthwhile -- the man can talk, that's for sure.

 

[Fekula]

Terp Soccer's Casey Townsend drafted #5 in !st Round by Chivas USA...

and so DC United used the #7 pick to take Louisville mid Nick DeLeon.

The top 10 players taken were:

1. Montreal - Duke D-MF Andrew Wenger
2. Vancouver - Akron F Darren Mattocks
3. New England - UCLA MF Kelyn Rowe
4. Toronto - UC-Santa Barbara MF Luis Silva
5. Chivas USA - Maryland F Casey Townsend
6. San Jose - UC-Santa Barbara F Sam Garza
7. D.C. United - Louisville MF Nick DeLeon (details to come)
8. Portland - Connecticut D Andrew Jean-Baptiste
9. Chicago - Louisville D Austin Berry
10. Columbus - Creighton F Ethan Finlay

See the link to the MLS site for the complete first two rounds:
This post was edited on 1/12 7:06 PM by Fekula

MLS Draft List: Rounds 1 & 2