2016 MLS SuperDraft Preview

Each year the MLS draft gets a little more super. Yes, obviously I am talking about the league's interest in drafting goalkeepers. Last year we saw a record high nine goalkeepers drafted over four rounds. Everyone was cheering and strangers on the street were kissing one another. It was a great time. But before we get into this year's crop, let's look at last year's seniors and where they ended up.

1. Adam Grinwis (Michigan) - 22 - USL
2. Patrick Wall (Notre Dame) - 23 - retired
3. Alex Bono (Syracuse) - 20 - drafted, loaned to USL
4. Spencer Richey (Washington) - 22 - drafted, signed with respective USL club
5. Andrew Wolverton (Penn State) - 21 - drafted, MLS
6. Tyler Miller (Northwestern) - 21 - drafted, opted for Germany.4, returned to USL
7. Charlie Lyon (Marquette) - 22 - drafted, loaned to USL, some backup in MLS
8. Ben Lockler (Virginia Tech) - 21 - unknown
9. Brendan Moore (North Carolina) - 22 - signed with England.2
10. Earl Edwards (UCLA) - 23 - drafted, MLS

11. Oliver Brown (Denver) - 22 - unknown
12. Travis Worra (New Hampshire) - 21 - undrafted, signed MLS, loaned to USL
13. Greg Ranjitsingh (Mercer, Canadian) - 21 - USL
14. Tomas Gomez (Georgetown) - 21 - drafted, MLS
15. Nathan Dean (Elon, English) - 23 - unknown
16. Waleed Cassis (Buffalo, Canadian) - 22 - NASL
17. Winston Boldt (Army) - 22 - military commitment
18. Wilson Fisher (Duke) - 23 - unknown
19. Andre Rawls (Saint Mary's) - 23 - drafted, loaned to USL
20. Justin Taillole (California) - 23 - unknown

I haven't been shy about MLS's laughable track record when it comes to drafting goalkeepers. (To be fair, it doesn't seem like MLS is alone in struggling to recognize goalkeeping talent.) However, I think they got it right in 2015. Of the nine drafted goalkeepers, eight were in my top 20 and the only one who wasn't eventually got cut by their MLS team. And fourteen of the twenty goalkeepers listed above ended up with a club. So all-in-all, the draft was a success.

Oddly enough, we had a variety of goalkeepers go undrafted last year as well. From Travis Worra, who ended up getting first team minutes with DC United, to Tyler Miller, who was technically drafted but snubbed Seattle for fourth division Germany, last year's goalkeeper class turned out to be a hard act to follow.

Based off this year's combine list, there is still a gap between MLS and college scouting. Perhaps the organizers of the MLS combine are not on the same page as MLS scouts. Or perhaps last year was just a fluke. Either way, the selection of goalkeepers consistently seems to parallel superficial awards or team accomplishments, not actual quality of the goalkeepers. Hopefully last year was a turning point for MLS but the proof will be in MLS's next combine and draft selections.

Here are the top twenty goalkeepers heading into the 2016 MLS SuperDraft. Players in bold are eligible to be drafted.

1. Zach Bennett (Michigan State) - 22 *
2. Paul Blanchette (Loyola Marymount) - 21
3. Matt Bersano (Penn State) - 23 *
4. Ashkan Khosravi (UC Riverside) - 22
5. Wade Hamilton (Cal Poly) - 21 #*
6. Michael Breslin (UC Irvine) - 22
7. Nathan Ingham (Canadian, Florida Gulf Coast) - 22
8. Lucas Champenois (Saint Mary's) - 21
9. Connor Sparrow (Creighton) - 21 #*
10. Chris Froschauer (Ohio State) - 22

11. Callum Irving (Canadian, Kentucky) - 22 #*
12. Sven Lissek (German, Furman) - 22 #*
13. Mike Kirk (La Salle) - 22
14. Jackson Morgan (Navy) - 22
15. Austin Pack (Charlotte) - 21
16. Shane Haworth (Seattle) - 23
17. Brenden Alfery (Robert Morris) - 21
18. Dan Lynd (Pittsburgh) - 21
19. Mike Lansing (Bucknell) - 21
20. Matt Turner (Fairfield) - 22
 xx. Ryan Herman (Seattle) - 22 #*

# - invited to MLS combine
* - top seven most likely to be drafted

Like last year, teams are looking to fill USL slots again. I don't think we'll hit nine again but seven seems a strong possibility. I've marked the seven most likely to be drafted with an asterisk. Clearly the five combine goalkeepers are in the running and Bersano and Bennett have the pedigree to earn a draft spot. Where can we expect these goalkeepers to land?

  1. Houston Dynamo - Have added a USL squad for 2016
  2. Sporting Kansas City - Have added a USL squad for 2016
  3. Chicago Fire - Only one goalkeeper, Sean Johnson, on the roster.
  4. Orlando City - Have added a USL squad for 2016
  5. Philadelphia Union - Have added a USL squad for 2016
  6. DC United - Recently didn't re-sign Dykstra and USL affiliate Richmond Kickers have one goalkeeper on the roster
  7. Toronto FC - Only two goalkeepers on the MLS/USL squads but they need veterans, not more youth

If a goalkeeper isn't selected, he can surely find a roster spot somewhere with recent NASL and USL expansion. However, like we saw with National Champion Pat Wall, the Notre Dame goalkeeper struggled to find any serious offers and decided to pursue other options. American soccer is growing but the bottom feeders are still fighting to survive.

Update December 24th: Andrew Tarbell, Clemson's junior goalkeeper, has signed a Generation Adidas contract. Barring some unforeseen event, Tarbell will be selected in the 2016 draft.

 

Related:

2015 Early Season Women's NCAA Goalkeeper Rankings

cover photo belongs to Charlie DeBoyace at The Diamondback

We had one for the gentlemen last month and now that the season has kicked off for the women, we have a little clearer picture of who slots where. Admittedly, not all of these goalkeepers were easy to find video on so some of them are rough estimates. Hopefully we can revisit at the end of the season with more accuracy.

Seniors

1. Rachelle Beanlands (Maryland) 22.3
2. Bryane Heaberlin (North Carolina) 21.8
3. Abby Smith (Texas) 21.9
4. Michelle Craft (San Diego) 21.3
5. Britt Eckerstrom (Penn State) 22.3
6. Brittany Brown (Florida Gulf Coast) 21.7
7. Kathryn Scheele (Colorado) 21.1
8. Madalyn Schiffel (San Francisco) 21.7
9. Alyssa Giannetti (Cal Poly) 20.9
10. Shauni Kerkhoff (Temple) 21.7

Top of the stack and Canadian youth international Rachelle Beanlands returns to Maryland after a strong 2014 season as a Player to Watch in the Big Ten. Abby Smith, who recently scored her third career goal for Texas, and Bryane Heaberlin have a very high chance of being drafted next NWSL draft, unless they pursue elsewhere overseas. Britt Eckerstrom was recently named the W-League goalkeeper of the year and Kathryn Scheele did well with the Sounders this summer.

 

Juniors

1. Jane Campbell (Stanford) 20.6
2. Sammy Jo Prudhomme (USC) 21.6
3. Lizzie Durack (Harvard) 21.3
4. Kailen Sheridan (Clemson) 20.2
5. Hannah Seabert (Pepperdine) 20.7
6. Holly Van Noord (Liberty) 21.1
7. Tarah Hobbs (Minnesota) 20.3
8. Morgan Stearns (Virginia) 20.7
9. Lindsey Harris (North Carolina) 21.8
10. Andi Tostanoski (Santa Clara) 21.1

Jane Campbell was put on the Hermann Trophy Preseason Watch List so it's safe to say we could tag her with "decent, at least". Sammy Jo Prudhomme sat out last year after transferring out of Oregon State but is now starting at USC. Lizzie Durack has already proved herself worthy with Everton and has been in the England YNT program. Holly Van Noord and Andi Tostanoski are frontrunners in the "most athletic" category. 

 

Sophomores

1. Megan Hinz (Michigan) 19.8
2. Nevena Stojokovic (Florida International) 20.5
3. Cassie Miller (Florida State) 20.4
4. Emily Boyd (California) 19.2
5. Laura Dougall (Buffalo) 19.2
6. Kaylyn Smith (Virginia Tech) 19.7
7. Erika Yohn (Purdue) 19.7
8. Lexi Nicholas (Notre Dame) 19.6
9. Lindsay Preston (Wake Forest) 19.5
10. Cassidy Babin (Massachusetts) 18.9

Megan Hinz bucks the trend of not playing for a USYNT. Regardless, Michigan will be relying on her heavily once again this year. Internationals Nevena Stojokovic (Serbia) and Laura Dougall (Canada) follow closely behind while Purdue starter Erika Yohn has already submitted her save for Save of the Year consideration.

 

Freshmen

1. Caroline Brockmeier (Florida State) 19.1
2. Amanda Poertner (Idaho) 18.8
3. Rose Chandler (Penn State) 19
4. Sarah Le Beau (Auburn) 19.7
5. Erin Scott (Creighton) 18.3
6. Kelsey Dossey (Missouri) 19.2
7. Alyssa Palacios (UTEP) 18.8
8. Julia Schneider (Massachusetts-Lowell) 19
9. Olivia Swenson (North Dakota) 18.7
10. Samantha Leshnak (North Carolina) 18.4

It's no surprise that North Carolina has multiple goalkeepers on this list. Samantha Leshnak, like Caroline Brockmeier and Rose Chandler, likely won't see much playing time with established veterans starting over them but keep an eye down the road for them. Some notable performances from the young bunch include Amanda Poertner versus Washington State and Erin Scott's outing against Central Michigan, which earned her Big East Rookie of the Week honors.

2015 NCAA Save of the Year

This year Everybody Soccer will be tracking the top saves from NCAA, focusing mostly on men's D-I but hopefully incorporating women's as well as lower D-II and D-III. At the end of the season, we'll have a big bracket for everyone to vote on the first official NCAA Save of the Year. If you have a suggestion, please get in touch by clicking the contact link in the black footer at the bottom of the page.

August 30th

While Purdue didn't pull out the win, Erika Yohn kept it close in overtime against Missouri with this dive admist the chaos.

Ohio State is thankful for recent transfer Chris Froschauer and his shot stopping ability, seen here against Binghamton at the 1:00 mark.

Tennessee's Julie Eckel holds a shot most goalkeepers would be thankful to tip away. Easier said than done.


August 28th

Oakland's Wes Mink gets back and up to tip the ball off the crossbar. Not your typical upper ninety save but important nonetheless.

Ideally we'd have a better camera angle on this redirection but it's what we have. Marco Velez saves South Carolina with this tricky ball.

Alyssa Giannetti makes two awkward but needed saves to keep Virginia from scoring against Cal Poly.

Can't have too many saves on one day. Andi Tostanoski makes a tough save look easy against Notre Dame.


August 27th

Michelle Craft and San Diego didn't pull out the win but she did chalk up this extension save for her resume.

 

August 23rd

Mimi Borkan keeps her head on a swivel with this double save against Massachusetts. Not the best quality but trust me they are two great saves.

Our first submission! William and Mary's Caroline Casey preserves the shutout with this fantastic save.


August 20th

Freshman Chase Therrien helps keep this shot out of the net for Incarnate Word.

August 15th

Lipscomb's Micah Bledsoe keeps Louisville to only one goal, with multiple big saves. You can catch most of the eight save performance here, including the one below.

August 14th

Senior goalkeeper Kyle Dal Santo gets up and away in an exhibition match against Xavier.


And here's a big ol' map of all the D-1 men's programs in NCAA. Click the drop down menu on the top left of the map to see all the conferences. You can see an enlarged version here.

2015 Preseason NCAA Goalkeeper Rankings

cover photo by Khoa Nguyen

Picking up from the end of last season's rankings, here are Everybody Soccer's preseason NCAA goalkeeping rankings, sorted by class. Ages may not be exact as some of their exact DOBs aren't listed but you get the idea.

#. Name (school) age

Seniors

1. Paul Blanchette (Loyola Marymount) 21.3
2. Matt Bersano (Penn State) 22.8
3. Zach Bennett (Michigan State) 21.6
4. Ashkan Khosravi (UC Riverside) 21.5
5. Alex McCauley (North Carolina State) 20.9
6. Wade Hamilton (Cal Poly) 20.8
7. Ryan Herman (Washington) 22.1
8. Matt Pacifici (Davidson) 21.9
9. Connor Sparrow (Creighton) 21.2
10. Chris Knaub (Bryant) 21.6

Notes: The top three return from PDL action and are looking ready to go this upcoming fall. Blanchette struggled to nail down the starting role at Loyola last fall but he should regain the number one role soon. Bersano is transferring from Oregon State to Penn State for his final year. Zach Bennett is looking for another strong run with Michigan State, who reached the quarterfinals last year. I interviewed Khosravi earlier this year. Of the rest, Hamilton is probably the most known as a USYNT product from the 2011 U17 team but the other five are more than capable to lead their schools into the final 48.

Juniors

1. Eric Klenofsky (Monmouth) 20.8
2. Grayson Rector (Belmont) 20.9
3. Alec Ferrell (Wake Forest) 21.3
4. David Greczek (Rutgers) 20.8
5. Ricky Brown (Colgate) 20.5
6. Andrew Epstein (Stanford) 19.5
7. Andrew Putna (UIC) 20.8
8. Nick Ciraldo (Cleveland State) 20.3
9. Andrew Tarbell (Clemson) 21.5
10. Will Steiner (Villanova) 20.9

Notes: Only four of these goalkeeper made the big dance last year so all the more reason to become familiar with these names now. Klenofsky leads the pack as an explosive 6'6" goalkeeper (watch here). Epstein carries the USYNT badge as the only 19 year old on the list. Coming from the Colorado Rapids academy, he is definitely playing above his grade. Red Bulls academy product David Greczek is looking help Rutgers get back above .500 this year. 

Sophomores

1. Evan Louro (Michigan) 19.5
2. Jeff Caldwell (Virginia) 19.4
3. Paul Christensen (Portland) 19.3
4. Ben Willis (Gonzaga) 19.5
5. Eric Dick (Butler) 20.5
6. Aitor Blanco (Radford) 20.5
7. Adrian Remeniuk (Wisconsin) 19.6
8. Bobby Edwards (Saint Joseph's) 19.5
9. Josh Weiss (Siena) 19.4
10. Ben Lundgaard (Virginia Tech) 19.8

Notes: Perhaps the most star-studded cast: Louro, Caldwell, and Christensen have all been with the U20s. Most of these goalkeeper are looking to establish themselves as the starter for their respective schools, riding the bench for most of the year last year. There will be some rough bumps in the road but the potential is clearly there for each goalkeeper. Remeniuk looks to tie down the starting spot in Wisconsin and (another) 6'6" goalkeeper, Bobby Edwards returns after a successful year with St. Joe's.

Freshmen

1. Elliott Rubio (Akron) 18.9
2. Justin Vom Steeg (UC Santa Barbara) 18.3
3. Craig Duggan (South Carolina) 19.3
4. Carter Richardson (Wake Forest) 18.9
5. Cameron Keys (La Salle) 18.5
6. Charlie Furrer (Stanford) 18.4
7. Austin Aviza (Syracuse) 18.4
8. Hunter Harrison (Oral Roberts) 19.7
9. Tucker Schneider (SIUE) 18.3
10. James Pyle (North Carolina) 19.8

Notes: Most of these goalkeepers won't start many games. (Two of them have their team's starters higher on this list.) Still, many will go on to have successful tenures with their schools and likely afterwords as well. Aviza probably has the best chance of starting of all the 18 year olds but he's still very young for the job. Harrison, who I interviewed back in March, is older and if he gets his feet under him he will thrive. Half of the group have MLS connections: Richardson (Columbus), Keys (Philadelphia), Furrer (Dallas), Aviza (New England), and Schneider (Colorado).