Seattle Sounders FC took four players in Tuesday’s Major League Soccer supplemental draft and, in a related move, acquired the rights to UCLA midfielder Andy Rose from Real Salt Lake in exchange for the rights to defender Leone Cruz, selected 21st overall in 2011 MLS SuperDraft.
Salt Lake obtained Rose with the sixth 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 midfielder was named to the All-Pac-12 Conference first teams in both. He started all 24 matches 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 selected to the All-Big West First Team as a senior when he started a career-high 20 games, in which he 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 pro 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 (2009) at Whatcom Community College, where he 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.
The Sounders open their season March 7 when they 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.
Seattle Sounders FC Off-season News/Transactions
- Nov. 23: Lost defender James Riley to the Montreal Impact in the MLS expansion draft. Riley came to the Sounders in the 2008 expansion draft from the San Jose Earthquakes. After his selection, the Impact traded Riley to Chivas USA.
- Nov. 23: Accepted the resignation of lead broadcaster Arlo White, who took a position with NBC as its lead announcer on MLS coverage.
- Nov. 24: Traded defender Tyson Wahl to the Montreal Impact in exchange for allocation money. Wahl made 39 appearances for the Sounders in three seasons after coming to Seattle in the 2008 expansion draft from Kansas City, where he played three seasons.
- Dec. 2: Announced that defender Taylor Graham, a seven-year MLS veteran, and goalkeeper Terry Boss both retired. They had been members of the Sounders since 2009.
- Dec. 6: Announced that the club would kick off its fourth season in MLS on Saturday, March 10, 2012 at home; time, opponent, and national broadcast information to be announced.
- Dec. 7: Signed Austrian goalkeeper Michael Gspurning as a replacement for Kasey Keller. Gspurning, 30, has been capped three times by Austria and played the past four seasons for Skoda Xanthi of Greece’s top flight.
- Dec. 12: Selected D Marc Burch from D.C. United in the MLS re-entry process stage 2 draft.
- Dec. 14: Signed Argentine midfielder Mauro Rosales to a two-year contract, announced at the club’s annual business meeting with season-ticket holders. Rosales, 30, set the club record with 13 assists in 26 league matches, ranking third in MLS. He also scored five goals.
- Dec. 29: Signed Swedish defender Adam Johansson to a multi-year contract.
- Jan. 3: Signed Burch, most recently of D.C. United, to a contract.
- Jan. 5: Announced that the U.S. National Team had called in midfielder Brad Evans and defender Jeff Parke for a training camp that will run through Jan. 26 in the U.S. and Panama.
- Jan. 10: Announced that Ross Fletcher, formerly of BBC Radio, and former goalkeeper Kasey Keller would serve as the team’s broadcast team, Fletcher as the play-by-play voice, Keller as analyst.
- Drafted Andrew Duran, named the Missouri Valley Conference’s defender of the year at Creighton University, with the 15th pick in the first round of Major League Soccer’s SuperDraft. With their second-round pick, 34th overall, the Sounders selected forward Babayele Sodade (Bah-bye-elle-EE Sho-Dahd-DAY) of Alabama-Birmingham.
- Jan. 11: Announced that Danish midfielder Christian Sivebaek, 23, has been signed.
