Tide players making the difference as college championships loom close (Nov. 5)
4 Tide players qualified & will participate in the USL Men’s Player Showcase
The USL Men’s Player Showcase presented by Umbro will be hosted by the Charleston Battery of the USL First Division. The third installment of USL’s men’s showcase begins on Sunday, December 14. The three-day event, comprised of multiple 70-minute matches, concludes on Tuesday, December 16. The Showcase is designed to show off players to numerous coaches and scouts from the professional leagues in the and all over the world.
This year, 4 members of the 2008 Western Conference Finalists will compete in the combine style showcase. Daniel Scott (Gonzaga ‘07), Jordan Jennings (
Seattle
U. / Sr.), Spencer Schomaker (Syracuse / Sr.), and Brayton Knapp (
Portland / Sr.) will be there to show off for pro teams.
In 2007 USL Men’s Player Showcase drew more than 300 applicants from an elite pool of collegiate and international talent. As with previous showcase events, the majority of selected players are drawn from USL’s Premier Development League. Last season the USL Men’s Player Showcase provided an affordable platform for 90 elite prospects to display their abilities to a number of top clubs around the world. With numerous players landing professional contracts in Major League Soccer, the USL First Division, the USL Second Division and with international clubs, the USL Men’s Player Showcase has become a critical component of the PDL and the player development structure within USL.
> For the complete story on the combine - CLICK ME
> For more info on the showcase guidelines - CLICK ME
Daniel Scott- Daniel has been training with the Seattle Sounders to stay sharp and fit for the combine and other pro opportunities. Since the conclusion of the Sounders’ season, he has been training with Alex Weaver, from the Manchester United soccer schools youth academy. Weaver also spent time with
Stoke
City and possesses a UEFA A coaching license.
Jordan Jennings- has shared time in the
Seattle
University nets. In his appearances he has tallied 4 wins and one shutout. The Red Hawks have a 9-3-1 record in their first season as a Division 1 program. Jennings says their recent 1-0 victory over the
University of
Portland has been the season highlight.
Spencer Schomaker- Spencer’s Syracuse Orangemen just finished the regular season. Their record is 8-6-3. Prior to Nov 1, the Orangemen had 2 losses and 3 ties in overtime matches. The last home match of Schomaker’s college career left a different stat. After trailing the nationally ranked, Louisville Cardinals by a score of 2-0, they made a furious comeback to win 3-2 in the first overtime period. In the win, Spencer scored a goal and had the game winning assist to mark his 5th multipoint match of the season. Schomaker says, “I’ve been playing well, I lead the team in points goals and assists (6g,5a) and scored a hat trick in a 3-2 win over Adelphi.”
Brayton Knapp- Brayton has started all 17 matches this season for the West Coast Conference, Portland Pilots. Knapp has even tallied a goal and an assist from his defensive position. In his career at
Portland , he has now played 70 matches.
The Huskies – Phelps, Cox, Mueller
Daniel Phelps takes care of this update in his newest blog from the UW website -CLICK HERE to read about Phelps, Taylor Mueller, and Rafael Cox as the guys work toward a Pac-10 Championship.
Other player updates
Mark Lee – Mark is playing for the Pierce College Raiders while he positions himself for a jump to the Division 1 level. Lee says, “My season with Pierce is going ok were one win from making the playoffs and we have two remaining game this weekend away [from home].” Pierce plays against Walla Wall and
Treasure
Valley (
Ontario, OR ) Friday and Saturday.
Tucker Maxwell & Ruben Orozco- This tandem had a great weekend for St. Martins University in Lacey, WA. Ruben is a mainstay in the St. Martins midfield, while Tucker leads the defense. In California last weekend, Saint Martin’s picked up two non-conference wins defeating
Cal
State
Monterey
Bay 3-1 Friday, and then got their second victory over
Cal
State
East
Bay by a 3-0 margin Saturday. Orozco scored on a Penalty Kick for the 3rd goal in the Saturday win. The Saints have now won 4 or their last 6 games.
Rory Agu- Rory’s Fresno City CC team has only 2 losses since beginning the regular season. Rory has 9 goals and 8 assists and has received interest from San Diego St.and UNLV.
Chase Tangney- After 0 wins in the first 8 matches of the 2008 season, the Toreros of San Diego have won 6 of 8 and sit in 1st place for the West Coast Conference.
Max Walker- Max is pursuing a degree in mathematics at
Seattle
University . Academically he has junior standing, but since he redshirted his freshman year, he has sophomore standing athletically. On the first day of preseason he separated his left shoulder, and has been recoveing/rehabing since.
Walker says, “It doesn’t look like I’ll be able to play at all this season, so I will most likely pursue a medical redshirt for this year. My goal is to continue to heal my shoulder and progress forwards, setting my sights on playing with the Tide this summer and next season at SU.”
Daniel Gray- Daniel’s Cal Poly Mustangs enter the final week of play one win away from accomplishing what no other squad in men’s soccer program history has: Win a Big West regular season title. After upsetting No. 11 UC Davis 2-0 on Sunday, a win at No. 19 UC Santa Barbara on Wednesday would wrap up the first regular season crown in Cal Poly’s 15 years at the Division I level. Gray has played in all 18 of the Mustangs’ matches and started 14 of them.
Dennis Sanchez- Despite playing more than a half down a man, the
San Diego
State men’s soccer team still downed seventh-ranked
California , 1-0, Sunday afternoon at SDSU Sports Deck. The Aztecs improved to 3-3-3 in the Pac-10 and 5-8-3. Dennis was one of the 3 Men of the Match, according to the Aztecs official athletic site. He and two other starting seniors were dubbed to have, “played all 90 minutes and helped calm down the squad that had to play the final 49:52 a man short. They backed a defense which stood tall in the back and dominated the game in the air.”
Daniel Fadida- Daniel is 2nd on the Savannah College of Arts and Design (SCAD) in pts with 15 from 6 goals and 3 assists. Fadida has also scored both of the team’s penalty kick opportunities.
Cam Vickers-
Cam has played in all 21 matches for Sonoma St. In his appearances, he’s tallied the 2nd highest number of assists on the team (10). Vickers has also notches 2 goals in his time.
Machael David- Machael is sitting out his freshman season to gain eligibility after trying to transfer some credits from summer school and having a few hang ups.
For more info on these players, click HERE for links to their college pages.
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