USL News Release
Thursday, January 15, 2009
ST LOUIS, MO – In the annual MLS SuperDraft, 39 players with USL experience in the Premier Development League or Super Y-League were selected in the four-round, 60-player event. Cleveland Internationals striker Steve Zakuani was the first overall selection with Sam Cronin going second as the first of eight former Carolina Dynamo players taken.
A native of Akron, Ohio, the MLS expansion pick by the Seattle Sounders put up impressive numbers last season in Cleveland. He finished tied for 14th in the league in scoring with 22 points on nine goals and four assists over the course of only 11 matches.
Four-year PDL veteran and standout defensive midfielder Sam Cronin was taken second overall by Toronto FC. He was one of eight former Carolina Dynamo players chosen in the draft, including fellow First Round selection Michael Lahoud, who went to Chivas USA. Cronin registered nine goals and seven assists in 39 regular season matches for the Dynamo the past four years while Lahoud notched nine goals and 10 assists in 30 games the past three years.
The pair helped guide Carolina to two of its best seasons in recent memory with 14-0-2 and 11-3-2 records in 2006 and 2007, respectively.
Carolina Dynamo Players Drafted
|
Player
|
CD Years
|
Drafted by
|
Pick #
|
|
Sam Cronin
|
2005-08
|
Toronto
|
2
|
|
Michael Lahoud
|
2006-08
|
Chivas USA
|
9
|
|
Lyle Adams
|
2007
|
DC
|
26
|
|
Brian Shriver
|
2007
|
Dallas
|
27
|
|
Jaime Franks
|
2006-07
|
Chivas USA
|
49
|
|
Jokull Elisabetarson
|
2008
|
Chicago
|
52
|
|
Marcus Tracy
|
2008
|
Houston
|
56
|
|
Richard Jata
|
2007-08
|
Chicago
|
58
|
A pair of players from the 2008 PDL Regular Season Champion Michigan Bucks highlighted the beginning and end of the draft with Peri Marosevic going fifth overall to FC Dallas and Michael Holody going 59th to the Colorado Rapids. Marosevic tallied three goals and an assist in seven games while Holody finished his third Bucks season with a career total of 43 regular season games and over 3800 minutes played. The 2007 and 2008 PDL All-Conference selection was also named PDL All-League in 2008 and was a member of the 2006 PDL Championship squad and 2007 championship runners-up.
