MLS announces 2018 Combine Invitees

Major League Soccer today announced the initial 60 NCAA DI college players invited to participate in the 2018 adidas MLS Player Combine. Top collegiate players from across the country will showcase their talents in front of representatives from all 23 MLS clubs in Orlando, FL from Jan. 11-17, 2018. All invited players will be eligible for selection in the 2018 SuperDraft presented by adidas which will take place on Friday, Jan. 19 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia in conjunction with the United Soccer Coaches Convention.

 

A committee of MLS coaches and NCAA Division I coaches from every conference selected the invitees, all of whom completed their college eligibility this season. Further invitees including Generation adidas signings, non-collegiate players, and additional college seniors will be announced in the coming weeks. 

 

Seven semifinalists for the 2017 Men’s MAC Hermann Trophy headline this year’s list of initial invitees.

Wake Forest University forward Jon Bakero, who has totaled 10 game-winning goals in his career, is a third-team All-ACC honoree (2015), ACC All-Tournament Team honoree (2016) and NCAA College Cup All-Tournament Team honoree (2016). Bakero joins Stanford University defender Tomas Hilliard-Arce as a MAC Hermann trophy finalist. Hilliard-Arce was named the Pac-12 Defender of the Year after clinching a third straight NCAA national championship. Leading Western Michigan was midfielder Brandon Bye, who was named the MAC Player of the Year with the help of 12 goals and five assists in just 17 games. Jon Gallagher of Notre Dame University makes the MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalists list just one year after being named the ACC Offensive Player of the Year with 14 goals and seven assists, while Louisville University defender Tim Kubel is a MAC Hermann trophy semifinalist for the second straight year. Dartmouth College defender Wyatt Omsberg was included in the 2017 College Soccer News and Top Drawer Soccer Preseason All-America lists. Omsberg was also named the 2016 Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year. Rounding out the group is UNC Chapel Hill forward Alan Winn, who led the Tar Heels to the NCAA Men’s College Cup with 11 goals, second in the ACC along with .69 goals per game.

 

A mix of collegiate soccer head coaches and MLS Academy personnel will make up the Combine coaching staff.  University of Wisconsin-Madison head coach John Trask, Indiana University head coach Todd Yeagley, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee head coach Kris Kelderman and East Tennessee State head coach Bo Oshoniyi will serve as the head coaches for the four Combine teams. The assistant coaches will be FC Dallas Academy Director Luchi Gonzalez, NYCFC Academy Director Rodrigo Marion, New England Revolution Director of Youth Development Bryan Scales and Solar Soccer Club Head of Soccer Operations, Executive Director of Coaching Elite Programs and Technical Director Adrian Solca.

 

 

 

Name		School	Pos.
Marcelo Acuna		Virginia Tech	FW
Pablo Aguilar		Virginia	MF
Rafael Andrade dos Santos		VCU	MF/FW
Will Bagrou		Mercer	FW
Jon Bakero		Wake Forest	FW
Pau Belana		Akron	MF
Tristan Blackmon		Pacific	DF
Arthur Bosua		Columbia	FW
Cory Brown		Xavier	DF
Brandon Bye		Western Michigan	FW/DF
Jefferson Caldwell		Virginia	GK
Pol Planellas		Pittsburgh	DF
George Campbell		Maryland	DF
Paul Christensen		Portland	GK
Harry Cooksley		St. John's	MF/FW
Manuel Corderio		Akron	MF
Niko De Vara		Akron	DF
Eric Dick		Butler	GK
Justin Fiddes		Washington	DF
Markus Fjortoft		Duke	DF
Sam Gainford		Akron	FW
Jon Gallagher		Notre Dame	FW
Giovanni Godoy		UC Irvine	FW
Mamadou Guirassy		NJIT	FW
Tomas Hilliard-Arce		Stanford	DF
Brian Iloski		UCLA	MF
Jordan Jones		Oregon State	FW
Ken Krolicki		Michigan State	MF
Tim Kubel		Louisville	DF/MF
Christopher Lema		Georgetown	MF
Ricky Lopez-Espin		Creighton	FW
Ben Lundgaard		Virginia Tech	GK
Carter Manley		Duke	DF
Paul Marie		FIU(m)	DF
Andre Morrison		Hartford	DF
Christopher Mueller		Wisconsin	FW
Daniel Musovski		UNLV	FW
Michael Nelson		SMU	GK
Wyatt Omsberg		Dartmouth	DF
AJ Paterson		Wright State	MF
Frantzdy Pierrot		Coastal Carolina	FW
Afonso Pinheiro		Albany	FW
Matias Pyysalo		UCF	FW/MF
Alex Roldan		Seattle	MF
Jake Rozhansky		Maryland	MF
Albert Ruiz		Florida Gulf Coast(m)	FW
Rafael Sanchez		Saint Mary's (CA)(m)	DF/MF
Leon Schwarzer		San Francisco	MF
Mark Serbers		Wisconsin	DF/FW
Oliver Shannon		Clemson	MF
Nate Shultz		Akron	DF
Drew Skundrich		Stanford	MF
Graham Smith		Denver	MF
Lucas Stauffer		Creighton	DF
Mac Steeves		Providence College	FW
Mohamed Thiaw		University of Louisville	FW
Brian White		Duke	MF/FW
Ben White		Gonzaga	DF
Alan Winn		North Carolina	FW
Jason Wright		Clemson	FW