It was no surprise to anyone when Ryan Cochrane was selected by the San Jose Earthquakes with the first player in this year's expansion draft.
Cochrane is certainly no stranger to the Bay Area, having played with the Earthquakes for two seasons before they moved to Houston and became the Dynamo in 2006. In addition, he will return to the stadium where he played his college soccer, Buck Shaw Stadium at Santa Clara University, which will house the league's newest team in 2008.
Cochrane's loss, however, will be felt by Dynamo.
"I spent four years with Ryan, and we used to have a locker side-by-side in San Jose," said Dynamo goalkeeper Pat Onstad. "I think this year was his breakout year. He will be missed, but we knew with the expansion draft that one of us was going to leave. I expect maybe more will be leaving and coming during the offseason."
Cochrane helped Houston's defense become the league's all-time best statistically in 2007. Houston allowed only 23 goals in 30 regular season games, then just three more in the MLS Cup Playoffs. Houston also had 13 shutouts on the year and set an MLS-record shutout streak at 726 minutes.
"It wasn't a surprise that one of our players was taken," said Dynamo defender Eddie Robinson. "We have a great defense. It's the hardest thing in the world to lose a guy. I think Ryan had one of the best years of his career this season. I went back and watched the Kansas City game, and I think that was one of the best games he played. Then, he had another great game in the championship against New England."
Heading into next season, Houston knows they will have a bit of a hole in the defense that they will have to fill, but that is nothing new to Dynamo, who lost players for multiple reasons this year and overcame those absences to become just the second repeat MLS Cup winner in league history.
"One of the things we did this year was overcome suspensions, injuries and call-ups, and we'll have to do that again next year," Robinson said.
Frank Yallop didn't waste any time selecting Cochrane with the first pick in the expansion draft. The Orange know Yallop knows how to put together a great team, and Cochrane will be a great addition to the new Earthquakes.
"Yallop is a great coach, and he knows how to put a team together," Robinson added. "He has started to put together a great defense with Ryan. Ryan doesn't get the due credit he deserves playing with myself and Wade (Barrett) because we had good years. I think Ryan is going to do well in San Jose."
Jeremy Rakes is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
