Spokane's Ramos chosen by Toronto FC in MLS SuperDraft

Spokane native Mike Ramos capped a fantastic year in which he led the Spokane Shadow to the Evergreen Premier League title and Whitworth University to the Northwest Conference championship with his selection Tuesday in the third round of the Major League Soccer SuperDraft.

The striker was taken 50th overall, eighth in the third round, by Toronto FC in the four-round even that began with the first two rounds held at the NSCAA Convention in Philadelphia last Thursday and finished with the second half via teleconference call. Looking for talent up top, Ramos was the first of three strikers the club chose on the day. In the first two rounds they chose a goalkeeper, three defenders and another forward.

Five area players on NWSL draft list; Spokane's Ramos on radar ahead of MLS SuperDraft

The National Women's Soccer League released its initial list of eligible player for its third annual draft to be held Friday, January 16 during the NSCAA Convention at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. Preceding the NWSL draft, Major League Soccer will conduct the first two rounds of the SuperDraft on Thursday.

Among the NWSL list are five players from the region, four combined from Boise State, Eastern Washington and Washington state along with Boise native Sofia Huerta. Additional players may join the list as registration for the draft is still open, closing on Wednesday. Whitworth University and Spokane Shadow standout Mike Ramos has grabbed the attention of several MLS clubs, and is expected to sign professionally for 2015 be it in the top flight or lower divisions.

Former Shadow, MLS standout Waibel takes RSL coaching post

After helping lead the University of Washington to its best season in program history this past fall in his first year with his alma mater, Spokane native and former Spokane Shadow PDL standout Craig Waibel was named as part of the assistant coaching staff for new Real Salt Lake head coach Jeff Cassar Wednesday.

Ching Testimonial Friday in Houston - A look via #ThrowbackThursday

#ForeverChing

The day is here... tomorrow. Former Spokane Shadow and Gonzaga University standout Brian Ching will take the field for the final time Friday as a player in a Testimonial Match presented by the Houston Dynamo and BBVA Compass in honor of the three-time MLS Cup champion, six-time MLS All-Star and former US international featuring a number of current and former teammates.

Lower Division Recap: Round 3

The two top stories on the week were the Harrisburg City Islanders claiming the first USL Pro victory over an MLS Reserve side in interleague play and the Atlanta Silverbacks coming out on top in a wild 4-3 road win against reigning champion Tampa Bay.

MLS Affiliate / Loan Watch - Lower Divisions Round 3

Here is a quick look around the Lower Divisions at the players on loan from Major League Soccer.

The Revolution foursome with the Rhinos saw action in Rochester's trip to Charlotte and Richmond. Gabe Latigue was the lone player to start both contests, but only saw 119 minutes of play. Meanwhile, Tyler Polak and Matt Horth started the scoreless draw at Charlotte, but Polak came off the bench in the 4-1 loss to Richmond while Horth did not play. Bilal Duckett went the full contest in Richmond after coming off the bench in Charlotte.

For Richmond though, fewer players were available from DC, particularly Casey Townsend, who had a brace last week. The Kickers did not miss him though with the big victory as Andrew Dykstra added another win and Conor Shanosky played the full match. Brown Ownby, who played for the Houston Dynamo Reserves earlier in the week, went 83 minutes.

Lower Divisions Preview – Part II: MLS Reserves

Part I - USL Pro     ||     Part II - MLS Reserves     ||     Part III - NASL 

With the new partnership between Major League Soccer and USL Pro, the MLS Reserve League, created in 2005, will take on a completely different vibe this year as it will undoubtedly continue to evolve over the coming years as more teams opt for different avenues for development of their first-team depth. Starting this year, the biggest changes are that four teams are out – having chosen to directly affiliate and loan players to a USL Pro side – and each team has two games against third tier opposition as part of their schedule.

INWsoccernews.com’s 2013 MLS Projections for NASR

North American Soccer Reporters, the association of US and Canada’s top soccer writers, unveiled Friday the NASR 2013 MLS Preseason Poll predicting how the clubs will finish the season and who each team’s most important player will be over the course of the season. As a member, the following was my ballot submission for the poll with a brief snippet for my rationale. [Order – Team – Most Important Player – Rationale]

Looking for more season previews? Check out the league site MLSsoccer.com [Preview Central] or Soccer By Ives. Also, INWsoccernews will be managing a fantasy league team via the MLS Fantasy League site playing in the SBI (code # 7655-1695) and MLSsoccer ExtraTime Radio (#7953-1611) leagues as well as creating a league for INWsoccernews readers (# 12061-2220).  

USL Pro continues evolution with new Academy Player rule

Elite youth players will now have the opportunity to play lower division professional soccer in USL Pro

Last week, United Soccer Leagues announced that USL Pro teams will have the ability to expand rosters from the long-established Master 26 to a total of 31 with the addition of five amateur ‘Academy Player’ slots that are available for pre-collegiate under-21 players that are from an affiliated youth team, the local region or the club’s MLS affiliate.

The addition of the Academy Player rule is the second part of what is a major overhaul for the third tier of soccer in the US following the previous affiliation announcement made a month prior with Major League Soccer. USL Pro has gone from an isolated lower division league with post-collegiate players hoping to get noticed or extend their careers as professionals to a league that will feature a schedule with interleague matches with MLS Reserve teams and squads with MLS players on loan from affiliates and the absolute elite youth players on the cusp of professional careers.

The revolutionary implementation of the Player Academy rule by USL is the first formalized employment of the opening created by the recent change in NCAA guidelines that allow pre-collegiate players to play in official competition with paid professional athletes.    

MLS and NWSL draft results for the Northwest

Portland's Kendall Johnson was lone player chosen from a NW school in NWSL draft | photo: Gerald Barnhart

No players from the Inland Northwest were selected the past two days in the Major League Soccer or National Women’s Soccer League drafts at the NSCAA Convention in Indianapolis, but there was plenty of action for the Northwest on the other side of the Cascades.

The Seattle Sounders and Portland Timbers picked up three players, combined, and their NWSL counterparts Reign and Thorns tabbed four players each in the new league’s inaugural college draft.

Ching coming back: “I still feel like I can contribute”

A lot of fans of former Spokane Shadow PDL and Gonzaga standout Brian Ching may have gotten one of their wishes for 2013 granted today as the Hawaiian decided he will play at least one more season in Major League Soccer for the Houston Dynamo.

Seven Reasons to watch MLS Cup Saturday

Both the Los Angeles Galaxy and Houston Dynamo, after surprising sub-par seasons, showed their veteran experience and quality in the MLS Cup playoffs, and are set to play for the league championship for a second consecutive year Saturday. Here are some of the top reasons for Northwesterners to catch the game at 1:30 pm PT on ESPN (or Telefutura, TSN, RDS) even though the Sounders and Timbers are not playing...