but had an immediate impact.
"Abdus was fantastic for us," said Andrulis. "He came in here today and really gave us a spark in the midfield. He is a really good athlete with a lot of potential."
EARLY DEPARTURE: Forward Jeffrey Gonsalves (University of Rhode Island) was forced to pull out of the Combine early after he was unable to overcome a bout of mononucleosis suffered before the opening of the event.
Gonsalves has gained some attention as a forward, and has been mooted as a potential No. 1 overall pick by expansion club Toronto FC, who hold the first pick for Friday's SuperDraft.
Still, said URI head coach John O'Connor to the Toronto Sun: ""He was the second-best scorer in Division I soccer this season. MLS coaches already know what he can do."
ATHLETES' PERFORMANCE: Major League Soccer and adidas contracted the help of Athletes' Performance, a private business, to assess and observe each of the participant's physical characteristics and capabilities throughout the MLS Player Combine.
"We are here to help quantify their physical developments by doing a variety of assessments on movement function and movement quality and then performance measurement," said Charlie Wright of Athletes' Performance. "They do medical evaluations with the medical staff, trainers and physicians and then we evaluate them for their soccer skill."
In only their second year working the athletes at the Adidas Combine, Athletes' Performance trainers were on hand throughout the weekend to do the pre-game, movement preparation warm-up as well as a post-game regeneration.
"What we do incorporates good stretching, promotes good blood flow and regenerates tissue quality that had been damaged during the game process," Wright said.
Using a variety of techniques, the athletes focus their attention primarily the lower body, hamstrings, quadriceps, shines, calves, groin and the bottoms of their feet.
"We were asked this year to provide the information we obtained back to the league, with the hopes of providing a structured support of education to both the team and the player," Wright said. "I think that it has been very well received by the players, judging by the amount of questions we are receiving and the attention they are providing us during their activities and their attitudes."
"I think it's great because these guys know what they are talking about and I feel like they can do nothing but help us prepare for the next level," said Combine participant John DiRaimando (Saint Louis University). "The stuff that they have us doing is more high-tech than what I think we have all experienced in college, so I think they are doing a great job in preparing us for what is to be expected of us in the future."
Nicole Dupes is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
