MLS loses out on yet another young star like Dartmouth's Craig Henderson. (photo via Dartmouth)

‘Tis the season for players to head to Sweden, Norway and Denmark. Last week the MLS Draft Combine list was released but this morning news from Sweden reports that one college star will not be going the MLS route and instead will be headed to Sweden.

Dartmouth’s Craig Henderson is the next college star set to go to one of the Scandinavian leagues instead of MLS, following the likes of Marcus Tracy and Charlie Davies.

This kind of news continues to anger MLS fans who want to see this kind of young talent in the league. No doubt in my mind Henderson would have been a great fit in the league. His international experience with New Zealand doubled with his play at Dartmouth made him a real winner. I saw a couple Dartmouth games this season and Henderson is the real deal too.

I don’t know if it was a money thing or just a personal thing but the league has to find a way to get these kind of players, even if it means they only get them for a couple years before they transfer away to one of these European leagues. As Jason Davis at Match Fit USA pointed out earlier this morning, the leagues in Sweden and Norway are logical moves for these guys who want to go to the big leagues in Germany, France and England. The bigger clubs are more likely to find players in leagues closer to them and against teams they may see in the Europa and Champions League.

Hopefully Henderson will be one of the few if not just the only one going to Europe out of what could be a very strong draft class this year. But just as always we’ll see since there are plenty of good young players that could come out of college and get a job overseas in one of these leagues right now.

The search for the next head coach of DC United continues as one of the leading candidates withdraws from consideration this evening. Akron head coach Caleb Porter seemed to be a shoe-in for the job but has decided to stay on with the Zips. The Akron Beacon Journal is reporting Porter has signed an extension with the University for another five years.

The 34-year old has been regarded as one of the top coaches in the college game today. He’s lead Akron over the last couple seasons to some amazing records including this years near perfect run where they fell in PKs in the College Cup final to Virginia.

Now it seems like DC will have to turn their attention elsewhere to possibly former Kansas City manager Curt Onalfo who is said to be the other leading candidate for the opening. I can’t say I’d be overly excited if I were a United fan about the possibility of hiring Onalfo here.

If you want a sneak peak of things to come in Major League Soccer then look no further to this weekend’s action in the College Cup. Of the four teams left in the field, all include several MLS-ready players.

There really is no big separation between these four schools. One is unbeaten and the rest are dominate ACC figures that we’re use to seeing make it this far into the tournament. Virginia, North Carolina and Wake Forest have been solid all season long. Akron on the other hand has been nearly perfect this year. I say nearly because they still have two potential games standing between them and perfection on the season.

Below are my previews for tonight’s game and a prediction of who I think will win it all. Continue Reading…

I brought his name up in a recent SuperDraft watch (should have another one of those out soon), and now he is set to enter next month’s SuperDraft according to SBI.

Who am I talking about? UConn’s stellar defensive-midfielder from Finland Toni Stahl has agreed to sign a contract with the league, joining former Rutger’s standout Dilly Duka for next month’s SuperDraft. Stahl should be a first round pick by my estimation.

With clubs like San Jose, Columbus and Dallas drafting in the early-to-middle of the first round we should see him go to one of them I would imagine. Stahl has good size at 6-3 and decent speed that will make him a quality defensive midfielder in MLS.

Expect more SuperDraft news and talk in the coming weeks as the college season comes to a close this weekend.

2009 NCAA Men's Tournament Bracket

The 2009 NCAA Men’s Soccer Tournament kicked off earlier today and while games are going on right now I felt it was worth previewing a little bit to give you all a heads up about who and what is out there to see. Some players have been mentioned on here for the 2010 SuperDraft watch and we may end up seeing others emerge as big names for the draft in January.

For those who don’t follow college soccer as much there are a few conferences that rule the pack. Typically the ACC and Big East seem to have solid squads but never sleep on a west coast team like UCLA or UC Santa Barbara.

Seeded Teams With Nice Paths To Final Four:

Akron: The Zips are the top seed and for good reason. They’ve easily been the best squad in the nation all year long and they are rewarded with a nice path to the Final Four. They’ll either get Stetson or South Florida first in the second round. Being familiar with USF I’d love to see that matchup but I know the Bulls sometimes forget to show up. After that they’ll get either the 16th seed UC Irvine or one of two other west coast teams in Stanford and St. Mary’s. Nothing like getting games at home against teams that have to travel a couple time zones.

UNC: Nothing like a ACC team getting a good path to the Final Four. Some may argue that Brown could give them challenges in the second round but I think the Tar Heels have a nice path to Cary with their bracket if the chips fall in the right order. Continue Reading…

Today has been a quiet day around here I know. Other than a few twitter posts I’ve remained a bit out of posting today. Blame it on slow news or blame it on me not wanting to jump on bad rumors that are out there right now. I do have a couple items tonight to discuss but nothing too huge.

I wanted to start off in the land of college soccer. First and foremost I am a big college soccer guy, not as big obviously when I was actually in college a couple years ago but I do still try to follow it as much as possible to keep me up on future MLSers that are out there across the land.

I bring up the college side of things because my alma mater’s sports media site posted an interesting thought about the growth of the college game. The article is worth a read for those who aren’t familiar with WVU or even Big East soccer for that matter. Both men’s and women’s soccer in the Big East is good, though not nearly as impressive as some we see in the ACC with the likes of Duke, Maryland and Wake Forest each year.

I know a lot of folks are getting tired of the SuperDraft in Major League Soccer but it won’t be going any time soon. The depth of the college game has taken a dip in recent years but I still know there are plenty of good players out there that are just prepping their game for better days in MLS or even in Europe.

But with that sad we will see a decline in the draft down the road as more academy players pop up in the league. I give it a few years at minimum before the draft goes from four rounds to two. It was a sign the draft was starting to get smaller when the league did away with the Supplemental Draft this year.

Continue Reading…

The draft pool is starting to get a little deeper as we head towards this month’s SuperDraft. Word out of the Windy City and now comfirmed by SBI that University of Illinois-Chicago midfielder Baggio Husidic will sign a Generation adiadas contract with MLS.

Some see Husidic as the top attacking midfielder in this draft. His size (at 6′1″) gives him a good advantage over a few others in this draft. Also to go along with this size, his speed is also seen as one of his better assets.

I see Husidic as a mid-first rounder that could move up the board if he continues to impress in some workouts. The need for an attacking midfielder in this draft will be interesting to watch for a few clubs.

Husidic joins a pretty strong Generation adidas class that already includes Maryland defenders Omar Gonzalez, Rodney Wallace and midfielder Jeremy Hall, Akron striker Steve Zakuani, Cal goalkeeper Stefan Frei and Indiana defender Kevin Alston. Some reports suggest other targets Peri Marosevic and Michael Stephens are close to signing and could end up doing so by sometime this week.