KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Kansas City Wizards General Manager Curt Johnson announced today that defender Nick Garcia and midfielder Sasha Victorine have each signed new multi-year contracts with the Wizards and Major League Soccer. Per team and League policy, terms of the deals were not disclosed.
"We are thrilled to be able to retain Nick's services," said Johnson. " He has been a large part of the successes we have had both on and off the field over the last five years. In addition, acquiring and now signing Sasha Victorine gives us a versatile and valuable player with a tremendous amount of experience."
Garcia, 25, is coming off one of the finest years of his young professional career. The versatile and rugged defender helped anchor the League's best defense in 2004 that allowed just 30 goals, the fewest in MLS, while posting a League-high 12 shutouts. He spent time at every position across the back line for Kansas City as the team captured the 2004 U.S. Open Cup Championship and earned a spot in the 2004 MLS Cup Final.
The Plano, Texas native was drafted by the Wizards with the 2nd overall pick in the 2000 MLS SuperDraft. He immediately made an impact as a rookie playing every minute of every game for Kansas City during their run to the 2000 MLS Cup Championship. In five seasons he has started and played in 138 matches, tied for 5th in franchise history, while logging 12,541 minutes, the fourth most in team history.
Garcia's solid play in MLS has earned him a number of invitations to the U.S. National Team over the past two seasons, where he was earned six caps. He is currently in National Team camp preparing for their upcoming World Cup Qualifier against Trinidad & Tobago February 9th.
Victorine was acquired in a trade with the Los Angeles Galaxy earlier this month, in exchange for a second round pick in the 2005 MLS SuperDraft. The 26-year-old native of Corona, California was drafted by the Galaxy with the 11th overall pick in the 2000 MLS SuperDraft. He has appeared in 121 matches, including 109 starts, scoring 17 goals and adding 20 assists for 54 points.
In five seasons with the Galaxy, Victorine saw playing time as a defender, as a holding and wide midfielder and as a forward. He was a part of three Championship teams with the Galaxy including the 2000 Champions' Cup, 2001 U.S. Open Cup and 2002 MLS Cup. He has also appeared four times for the U.S. National Team, most recently in 2003.
The Kansas City Wizards will open training camp on Tuesday, February 1st in the Arrowhead Indoor Training Facility beginning at 9:30 a.m. CT. A complete preseason schedule will be announced in the coming week.
