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The MLS season starts to ramp up today. The schedule comes out in the afternoon (hopefully) and all of the teams have staff in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida for the 2016 adidas MLS Player Combine. The combine runs from Jan. 7-12 and leads right into the MLS SuperDraft in Baltimore on the 14th. Shortly after that players will start reporting, training camps will open and preseason will be underway.
The Combine
MLS has invited 60 college players and split them into four teams of 15 each although there may still be some late additions. There were players dropped and some added from the original list.
The combine teams will each play three matches at Central Broward Regional Park on Jan. 8, Jan. 10 and Jan. 12.
Friday, Jan. 8
Team X vs. Team Ace (2 pm)
Team Control vs. Team Chaos (3:45 pm)
Sunday, Jan. 10
Team X vs. Team Control (12 pm)
Team Ace vs. Team Chaos (1:45 pm)
Tuesday, Jan. 12
Team Ace vs. Team Control (10 am)
Team X vs. Team Chaos (11:45 am)
A surprise omission
One surprise to some Sporting Kansas City fans is that former academy player Eric DeJulio was not invited. He has by all accounts had an outstanding year and led Creighton deep into the Men's College Cup.
When DeJulio did not appear on the list there was speculation that Sporting KC might be signing him to a homegrown contract but it appears that is not the case. It looks more likely that MLS just did not want to take too many from one college and there is already three players from Creighton invited.
The Teams
Coaching assignments and current rosters for the four teams follow below:
Team Ace
|
Name |
School |
Position |
Hometown/Citizenship |
|
UCSB |
D |
Higland Village, TX; USA |
|
|
SIU-Edwardsville |
D |
St. Louis, MO; USA |
|
|
North Carolina |
D |
Greensboro, NC; USA |
|
|
Michigan State |
D |
Grand Blanc, MI; USA |
|
|
Clemson |
F |
Irvine, CA; USA |
|
|
Maryland |
M |
Tokyo, Japan; Japan |
|
|
Washington |
M |
Victoria, BC; Canada/UK |
|
|
Kentucky |
GK |
Vancouver, BC; Canada |
|
|
UMBC |
F |
Philadelphia, PA; USA |
|
|
Duke |
M |
Keller, TX; USA |
|
|
Marquette |
F |
Accra, Ghana; Ghana |
|
|
Georgetown |
D |
Ronks, PA; USA |
|
|
Stanford |
M |
Sacramento, CA; USA |
|
|
George Mason |
D |
Somers, NY; USA |
|
|
Virginia |
M |
Glen Allen, VA; USA |
|
|
Team Ace Coaches - Head Coach: Greg Andrulis (George Mason); Asst. Coach: Junior Gonzalez (Seattle Sounders) |
|||
Team Chaos
|
Name |
School |
Position |
Hometown/Citizenship |
|
Robert Morris |
F |
Kingston, Jamaica; Jamaica |
|
|
Clemson |
M |
Cheshire, UK; UK |
|
|
Ohio State |
D |
Isle of Man, UK; UK |
|
|
Clemson |
D |
Easley, SC; USA |
|
|
Washington |
GK |
Fall City, WA; USA |
|
|
Notre Dame |
M |
Brookfield, WI; USA |
|
|
Indiana |
F |
Goshen, IN; USA |
|
|
Notre Dame |
MF |
Amherst, OH; USA |
|
|
Notre Dame |
D |
Evansville, IN; USA |
|
|
North Carolina |
D |
Marietta, GA; USA |
|
|
Cal Poly |
M |
Heath, TX; USA |
|
|
Charlotte |
F |
Marvin, NC; USA |
|
|
UC Riverside |
F |
Cayo, Belize; USA/Belize |
|
|
Georgetown |
D |
Anderson, SC; USA |
|
|
San Diego |
F |
Temecula, CA; USA |
|
|
Team Chaos Coaches -- Head Coach: Kris Kelderman (Wisconsin-Milwaukee); Asst. Coach: Jeff Baicher (DeAnza Force) |
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Note: Kelderman was an assistant for the Wizards
Team Control
|
Name |
School |
Position |
Hometown/Citizenship |
|
Cal State-Dominguez Hills |
D |
Santa Barbara, CA; USA/Mexico |
|
|
UCF |
F |
Rochester, NY; Guinea |
|
|
UNC Wilmington |
F |
Fulton, MD; USA |
|
|
Saint Louis |
M/D |
Minneapolis, MN; USA |
|
|
Bowling Green |
M |
Mississauga, ON; Canada |
|
|
Lehigh |
F |
Wexford, PA; USA |
|
|
Rutgers |
D |
Atlanta, GA; USA |
|
|
Columbia |
M |
Fair Lawn, NJ; USA/Italy |
|
|
North Florida |
F |
Lakeland, FL; USA |
|
|
Creighton |
M/F |
Oberschwarzach, Germany; Germany |
|
|
Princeton |
F |
Indianapolis, IN; USA |
|
|
Florida Gulf Coast |
M |
Guatemala City, Guatemala; Guatemala |
|
|
Creighton |
GK |
St. Louis, MO; USA |
|
|
Georgetown |
D |
Beaver, PA; USA |
|
|
Stanford |
M |
Los Angeles, CA; USA |
|
|
Team Control Coaches -- Head Coach: Kevin Anderson (Columbia); Asst. Coach: Bryan Scales (New England Revolution) |
|||
Team X
|
Name |
School |
Position |
Hometown/Citizenship |
|
Cincinnati |
M |
Westerville, OH; USA |
|
|
VCU |
D |
San Jose, Costa Rica; Costa Rica |
|
|
Oregon State |
M |
Vancouver, WA; USA |
|
|
Wake Forest |
F |
Columbia, MD; USA |
|
|
Cal Poly |
GK |
Murrieta, CA; USA |
|
|
Creighton |
D/M |
Freiburg, Germany; Germany |
|
|
Furman |
GK |
Sewau, Germany; Germany |
|
|
Maryland |
D |
Sao Paulo, Brazil; Brazil |
|
|
Butler |
M |
Reckford Clarendon, Jamaica; Jamaica |
|
|
Washington |
M |
Windsor, CA; USA |
|
|
UC-Riverside |
F |
Riverside, CA; USA |
|
|
Syracuse |
F |
Herkimer, NY; USA/UK |
|
|
Elon |
D/M |
Tucson, AZ; USA/Mexico |
|
|
Rutgers |
M |
Storrs, CT; USA |
|
|
Stanford |
D |
Valencia, CA; USA |
|
|
Team X Coaches -- Head Coach: Jared Embick (Akron); Asst. Coach: Larry Sunderland (Portland Timbers) |
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