Senior m. soccer players score big in pro drafting

Senior m. soccer players score big in pro drafting

Fledgling league looks to departing Bruin talent for competitive
first year of play

By Mark Shapiro

Daily Bruin Staff

The newfound Major League Soccer held its inaugural collegiate
draft on Monday, in which the 10 teams in the fledgling league got
to select from a pool of the top seniors in the collegiate
ranks.

The UCLA men’s soccer team featured most prevalently in the
selection process, with five of the seven graduating seniors from
this year’s squad being chosen in the three-round draft.

"To have five of our seven seniors go is pretty impressive,"
UCLA assistant head coach Dave Vanole said. "We’d like to have seen
the other two get in there."

Defender Adam Frye was the first Bruin selected and the fourth
player taken overall as he was picked up by the Tampa Bay Mutiny.
Goalkeeper Chris Snitko was one step behind as the Kansas City Wiz
tabbed him No. 5.

Defender Greg Vanney was taken as the 17th selection by the Los
Angeles Galaxy, and forward Eddie Lewis went to the Mutiny as the
24th selection. Forward Anté Razov, who was a Player of the
Year candidate last season and led the team in scoring in an
injury-abbreviated campaign, was drafted 27th by the Galaxy. His
stock fell due to speculation that he would forego Major League
Soccer to play professionally in Europe.

"We were surprised having Anté go so low, but that probably
is because he may just bail on the league and go overseas," Vanole
said.

With the opportunity to play soccer for money, Vanole, who
played a few years professionally, envisions a difficult transition
period for the draftees. That none of the players will be called
upon to step into a superstar role right away should ease the
transition into a league that already has names like Alexi Lalas,
Eric Wynalda and Carlos Valderrama to its credit.

"These guys don’t have a clue," Vanole said. "They’re going in
with their eyes wide open. It’s a lot of money and they get to play
soccer. They worked their asses off for five years to get there and
it’s paying off.

"They’re going to be role players. A lot of the attention won’t
be placed on them unless they step up and are brilliant. They’re
going to have to prove themselves just like they did here."

* * *

With the loss of seven seniors, all of whom started all or most
of last season’s games, next year’s squad is faced with some big
shoes to fill. The lacking areas were hopefully satisfied as UCLA
brought in one of its finest recruiting classes in some time.

"It’s probably one of the better recruiting classes that UCLA
has had in a long time," Vanole said. "We got four or five guys who
can step in and maybe be expected to start. We didn’t get everyone
we wanted in the offensive role, but you never do. We went after a
lot of blue chip athletes and we got most of them."

Heading the list is Sasha Victorine, a midfielder who was named
National High School Player of the Year. The Bruins also secured
the services of Kevin Perrault, a 6-foot-4, 190-pound goalkeeper
who broke the California Interscholastic Federation record for
shutouts. Perrault will be the heir apparent to incumbent
goalkeeper Kevin Hartman and will follow in UCLA’s tradition of
large goalkeepers.

Other signees include forwards Shea Travis and Martin Bruno,
midfielder Pete Vuyenes and defender Nick Paneno.

* * *

Razov and Snitko joined former Bruin Frankie Hejduk on the
Olympic Team and have settled in in a most favorable fashion.
Snitko has shined in goal and may have secured the starting spot,
and Razov, who sparkled early on, has regained his form after
missing a month of action with a bout of mononucleosis.

"(The coaches) haven’t seen (Razov) for a while, so he dropped a
couple notches, but he’s back now," Vanole said. "Other guys
stepped up when he was gone, so that’s a bummer. Chris has become
the No. 1 guy and they’re considering not bringing in a
professional goalkeeper."

ANDREW SCHOLER/Daily Bruin

Adam Frye (on one knee), the fourth pick in the MLS draft, will
be joined by teammate Eddie Lewis on the Tampa Bay Mutiny.

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