The Sounders drafted four players this morning in the MLS Supplemental Draft and then gained another this afternoon by trade.

Here’s the roundup from the club:

Seattle Sounders FC selected four players in Tuesday’s Major League Soccer Supplemental Draft. In a related move, Seattle also acquired the rights to UCLA midfielder Andy Rose from Real Salt Lake in exchange for the rights to defender Leone Cruz, taken 21st overall in 2011 MLS SuperDraft. Rose was taken by Salt Lake with the 6th overall selection in the 2012 Supplemental Draft.

Defender Tim Pontius of the University of California-Santa Barbara was taken with Seattle’s top pick (33rd overall) and midfielder Jason Banton of the Liverpool reserves was chosen with its second pick (34th overall). Seattle selected University of Washington forward Abdul Aman in the third round (53rd overall) and Cal Poly defender Wes Feighner with its final pick (72nd overall).

“I think we have a good balance with two defenders, two midfielders, and a forward. We were happy to do the trade to get Andy Rose,” said Sounders FC technical director Chris Henderson. “All of these players are going to have to fight to make the roster. We have a deep team.”

Rose, 21, played four seasons at UCLA. A native of England, the holding midfielder was named to the All-Pac-10 Conference First Team in 2010 and 2011. He started all 24 appearances as a senior and started 73 of 81 appearances in his college career, scoring five goals and adding 11 assists.

Pontius, 22, played four seasons at UCSB, making 34 starts in his 72 appearances. He was named to the All-Big West First Team as a senior when he started a career-high 20 games and scored three goals and one assist. Pontius is the younger brother of D.C. United forward Chris Pontius.

Banton, 19, played for England at the U-17 level and made his professional debut with League Two side Burton Albion in October 2011. He played in the youth systems of Arsenal, Blackburn Rovers and Liverpool before signing with Leicester City in July 2011.

Aman, 22, played one season for the Huskies, scoring two game-winning goals, and started six of his 14 appearances. Before joining UW, Aman played one season at Whatcom Community College in 2009 and was named the NWAACC North MVP after leading the league in scoring with 27 goals. He spent the 2008 season at Clarke University in Dubuque, Iowa, where he started 15 of 17 appearances, scoring 12 goals with five assists.

Feighner, 21, made 69 appearances for Cal Poly during his four-year college career. He was a second team All-Big West defender as a senior as he led the Mustangs to a 0.90 goals against average and seven shutouts. Feighner was part of the U-17 National Team in 2007.

Seattle had traded its 15th overall supplemental pick to Chicago in August for rights to Sammy Ochoa and acquired the 33rd overall selection from Dallas (originally Colorado) for Chris Seitz last year.

Prior to the supplemental draft, Sounders FC had selected two players in the MLS SuperDraft on January 12.

The season begins March 7 when Sounders FC will host Mexico’s Santos Laguna in the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. PT on the Xbox Pitch at CenturyLink Field. Seattle opens MLS play at home on March 17 against Toronto FC.

Season tickets can be purchased by visiting www.SoundersFC.com or phoning 1-877-MLS-GOAL. Champions League tickets will go on sale on Monday, January 30 at 10 a.m. PT and will be available at www.SoundersFC.com, by calling 800-745-3000 and the CenturyLink Field Box Office as well as all Ticketmaster outlets.

Read more »

MLS SUpplemental Draft ends in less than an hour after it began (take note, NFL).

Here are the Sounders selections:

Second round:
Tim Pontius (UCSB) Position: D
and
Jason Banton (Leicester City) Position: FW/midfield (video above)

Third round:
Abdul Aman (Washington) Position: FW

Fourth round:
Wes Faighner (Cal-Poly) Pos: Defender

Here’s the full draft list from MLSsoccer.com.

In the post SuperDraft conference call this afternoon, the Sounders braintrust said the predictably good things about draft picks Andrew Duran and Babayele Sodade. However, they also cautioned that these picks could also have a tough time making the 2012 Sounders roster, which general manager Adrian Hanauer said is good and intriguingly implied could get better from some deals that seem close to fruition.

Here are the highlights:

SIGI SCHMID on first-round pick Duran: We felt he’s a player who’s very two-footed: He’s comfortable playing on the left side of the center on the back … He also played on little right back. At the combine here he was one of the few, if not the only, defender to get a goal. He had an assist when he played 45 minutes at right back. He’s a player that we like because he was very comfortable on the ball, he was very steady, and he was the main defender on the team that was the best defensive team in the country last year. He’s got to be doing something right.

SCHMID on second-round pick Babayele Sodade: Sodade is a big body. He’s a big presence up front. He’s got good pace. Obviously for us, one of our concerns as we go into this coming season is the recovery of O’Brian White. We’ve got some forwards who can run and move and we’ve got Ochoa, but Sodade’s different: He’s much bigger than that. He showed well at the combine. He’s had a good career at UAB. And he’s the kind of player who could be a surprise guy, kind of like (Kansas City’s) C.J. Sapong was this past year.

HANAUER on the state of the club with these draft picks in hand: Clearly we were very comfortable with our team coming into the draft. I think by virtue of the fact that we were picking 15 and 34 – although it’s always a little more difficult at the draft, ultimately that’s where you want to be because it means you’re winning a lot of games during the regular season. So it’s going to be a battle, and Duran and Sodade have to come in and work hard coming out of this draft. We have a very deep and strong team. And we hope that they prove to us that they belong on the roster and then hopefully they’re going to earn minutes and have an impact on the team. But with Chris doing a great job and going out and locking up (Adam Johansson and Christian Sivebaek) with the signing of (goalkeeper Michael Gspurning), some of the other deals that are possibly pending or getting close, we’re very, very comfortable that we’re going to have a very good team.

Here is the club release on draft day: Read more »

The Sounders have used their second and final pick in today’s SuperDraft to select Babayele Sodade, a 6-foot-3, 195-pound forward from Alabama-Birmingham.

You can see him in action by clicking here.

You can read his UAB bio by clicking here. Read more »

Sounders beat writers just got a few minutes with the club’s top pick in today’s SuperDraft, Creighton defender Andrew Duran.

He sounds like a nice guy, said he was “overjoyed” to be picked by the Sounders, says he is healthy, expects to play center or outside back in the pros, and said he will report on time to training camp next week.

Here’s some of what he had to say:

ANDREW DURAN
On the work he did in college preparing him to work for a starting spot again) (Creighton coach) Bob Warming was a big guy on working your way through whatever it is, life, obsticles, whatever it is. And I think he just really prepared me those first couple of years when I had to work really hard to get that spot and then obviously maintain it the last two years. It just really prepared me for MLS and what’s to come.

On being picked by Sounders) I was overjoyed when I got picked by Seattle. I mean, Creighton obviously has a great fan base from the community and the supporter there is unbelievable. I feel like Seattle is just that on a much, much grander scale. When fans appreciate me, I appreciate the fans. And the organization does a great job with everything, top down from the ownership to everything that goes on there. I’m just overjoyed that I’m going there.

On his positions and versatility) At Creighton I played centerback for most of my career, but I came in as a central midfielder, so I’m comfortable at that position as well. I did play a little bit of outside back at the combine, and in college maybe one game at outside back, if that. But I’m also really comfortable as an outside back, so that’s probably where my versatility comes from. But with the Sounders, I’m anticipating to play either outside back or centerback, but primarily center back.

On his health) I feel great, actually. I had injured my knee in the 2010 season, and I came back this year and I felt great: no swelling, no anything. I’ve been healthy since then, and it’s just been a blessing.

On his style and needed development for the pro game) Primarily I need to catch up with speed. A lot of people underestimate the speed of MLS. When I in Seattle this summer I was in the middle of a (short field) game for probably 10 minutes. The speed is going to be a big thing, but I feel like once I catch up there everything else is going to come into play – the speed of the game, I’m not talking about my actual speed. I’m excited to play and get into an organization where I have a chance to improve and get better as a player.

On visit to Seattle) I know it’s a great group of guys and Read more »

With the 15th pick of the 2012 SuperDraft, Sounders FC has selected Andrew Duran, a defender from Creighton. Alexi Lalas says “Seattle got a steal.” But cautions that Duran probably projects more as depth than an immediate starter.

Here is his bio from Creighton, including this list of 2011 honors:

2011 Honors
NSCAA All-America Second-Team
NSCAA Midwest Region First-Team
College Soccer News All-America First-Team
MVC Defensive Player of the Year
First-Team All-MVC
MVC All-Tournament Team
MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team
MVC Defensive Player of the Week (Oct. 24)
Top Drawer Soccer National Team of the Week (Oct. 24)

Read more »

The MLS SuperDraft has begun with expansion Montreal selecting Andrew Wenger, a forward from Duke. He’s the 2011 Hermann Trophy winner, ACC offensive player of the year, and scored 17 goals in 22 games this season.

With the second pick, the Vancouver Whitecaps picked Akron forward Darren Mattocks. And with the third, New England selected UCLA forward Kelyn Rowe of Federal Way.

I will hop back in here with any especially/locally interesting picks and trades. (For example, Portland’s trade of Kenny Cooper to New York, and then the Timbers’ selection of UConn defender Andrew Jean-Baptiste.) We’ll also have a few other posts/updates on Twitter. However, if you want moment-by-moment, pick-by-pick coverage, you’ll do better at ESPN2, ESPN3 or MLSsoccer.com.

I’ll certainly be back with any Sounders moves, and then I will open new posts later this morning when we are expecting to get an interview with the Sounders’ top pick, and then Read more »

Here’s some information from Sounders FC leading up to Montreal’s first pick in the SuperDraft at 9 a.m. Thursday:

Seattle to Select Two in Thursday’s SuperDraft

The first red-letter date of the 2012 MLS season comes Thursday when the MLS SuperDraft is held in the Kansas City Convention Center. One week later, on Thursday, January 19, Sounders FC begins preseason training at their Starfire Sports grounds in Tukwila, Wash.

With the 2012 SuperDraft condensed from three to two rounds, Sounders FC is left with a pair of picks on draft day, including the 15th overall selection. ESPN2 coverage of the first round begins at 9 a.m. PT. MLSsoccer.com will live stream the second round.

In addition to its 15th overall selection, Sounders FC also holds the 34th overall pick. Newcomer Montreal Impact holds the first selection in the 2012 SuperDraft. Nineteen picks will be made in both rounds.

Seattle also has four picks in the four-round Supplemental Draft, which will be held on Tuesday, January 17. Sounders FC traded its 15th overall pick to Chicago for rights to Sammy Ochoa and acquired the 33rd overall selection from Dallas (originally Colorado) for Chris Seitz. Seattle also holds the 34th, 53rd and 72nd selections in the Supplemental Draft.

Sounders FC representatives at the SuperDraft will be general manager Adrian Hanauer, head coach Sigi Schmid, technical director Chris Henderson, assistant coach Brian Schmetzer and assistant coach/scout Kurt Schmid.

As for who the Sounders will pick, well, their No. 15 spot and relatively set roster makes it an especially tough call. In the final MLSsoccer.com mock draft, three different predictors came up with three different predictions: Read more »