Los Angeles FC select Joao Moutinho of Akron with expansion team’s
first No. 1 pick in MLS SuperDraft 2018 presented by adidas
LAFC trades to select Tristan Blackmon third overall, after LA Galaxy pick Tomas Hilliard-Arce second
PHILADELPHIA (Friday, January 19, 2018) – Expansion club Los Angeles Football Club made history Friday, selecting defender Joao Moutinho with the first overall selection in MLS SuperDraft 2018 presented by adidas at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.
Moutinho became the second player in MLS SuperDraft history selected from the University of Akron with the first pick overall, the first since Steve Zakuani was taken No. 1 overall in 2009 by expansion club Seattle Sounders FC. He is the first native of Portugal selected first overall in MLS SuperDraft history.
LAFC made two selections in the first three picks, making a trade with D.C. United to obtain the third overall selection, which they then used to select Tristan Blackmon of the Univ. of the Pacific. In between, crosstown rival LA Galaxy chose Stanford Univ. defender Tomas Hilliard-Arce with the second selection overall, marking the first time in MLS SuperDraft history defenders were taken with the first three picks overall.
Moutinho was one of two members of Generation adidas selected in the top five selections. FC Dallas acquired the No. 4 selection from the Montréal Impact on draft day, which they then used to pick Francis Atuahene from the Univ. of Michigan as the second Generation adidas player chosen.
Minnesota United FC were very active in the first round, making four trades in all. Last year’s expansion club originally held the No. 5 overall selection, which they traded to the Chicago Fire, who selected Jon Bakero out of Wake Forest Univ., the winner of the 2017 MAC Hermann Trophy and the 2018 MLS Player Combine Tom Fitzgerald Most Valuable Player. MNUFC also received the No. 15 overall pick in return, using it to select defender Wyatt Omsberg (Dartmouth College).
MNUFC then made two trades to obtain selections later in the round, getting the No. 7 selection from the Montréal Impact and then picking Mason Toye (Generation adidas; Indiana Univ.), then the No. 23 selection from Toronto FC, which they used to pick Carter Manley (Duke Univ.). In all, six trades were made on draft day involving eight total selections.
Three schools had two players selected in the first round: Duke Univ., Wake Forest Univ. and the Univ. of Wisconsin – who saw two players taken in the top 10 selections overall (Chris Mueller, No. 6, Orlando City SC; Mark Segbers, No. 9, New England Revolution).
Four goalkeepers were taken in the first round, the most ever in the opening round in MLS SuperDraft history, the first Eric Dick of Butler Univ. by Sporting Kansas City with the 13th overall selection.
Players from 32 colleges and universities were represented in the 46 selections overall, led by Duke Univ. and Univ. of Wisconsin with three each. There were also players selected from 10 different countries: USA, Costa Rica, England, France, Germany, Ghana, Ireland, Norway, Portugal, Spain.
- For a complete recap of the 2018 MLS SuperDraft, please visit: www.MLSsoccer.com.
- Video soundbytes from first-round selection are available by CLICKING HERE
- USA TODAY Sports Images from the 2018 MLS SuperDraft by CLICKING HERE
A round-by-round summary of the 2018 SuperDraft follows:
ROUND 1
# TEAM PLAYER POS. HT WT DOB HOMETOWN CLUB/COLLEGE
1. LFC Joao Moutinho
DF 6-0 156 01/12/1998 Lisbon, Portugal Univ. of Akron
2. LA Tomas Hilliard-Arce DF 6-1 175 11/22/1995 Matthews, N.C. Stanford Univ.
3. LFC % Tristan Blackmon DF 6-1 170 08/12/1996 Las Vegas, Nev. Univ. of the Pacific
4. DAL # Francis Atuahene
MF 5-9 170 06/08/1996 Accra, Ghana Univ. of Michigan
5. CHI @ Jon Bakero FW 6-3 185 11/05/1996 Sitges, Spain Wake Forest Univ.
6. ORL Chris Mueller FW 5-9 160 08/29/1996 Schaumburg, Ill. Univ. of Wisconsin
7. MIN & Mason Toye
FW 6-3 180 10/16/1998 South Orange, N.J. Indiana Univ.
8. NE Brandon Bye DF 6-0 175 11/29/1995 Portage, Mich. Western Michigan Univ.
9. NE Mark Segbers FW 5-9 158 04/18/1996 St. Louis, Mo. Univ. of Wisconsin
10. CHI > Mo Adams
MF 5-6 165 09/23/1996 Nottingham, England Syracuse Univ.
11. DAL Ema Twumasi
FW 5-8 160 05/18/1997 Accra, Ghana Wake Forest Univ.
12. SJ Paul Marie DF 5-8 142 03/24/1995 Saint-Aubin-des-Bois, France Florida International Univ.
13. KC Eric Dick GK 6-5 205 10/03/1994 Carmel, Ind. Butler Univ.
14. ATL Jon Gallagher FW 5-9 158 02/23/1996 Dundalk, Ireland Univ. of Notre Dame
15. MIN @ Wyatt Omsberg DF 6-4 180 09/21/1995 Scarborough, Maine Dartmouth College
16. NYR Brian White FW 5-11 180 03/03/1996 Flemington, N.J. Duke Univ.
17. VAN Justin Fiddes DF 5-11 160 01/03/1996 San Diego, Calif. Univ. of Washington
18. KC Graham Smith DF 6-3 186 11/25/1995 Highlands Ranch, Colo. Univ. of Denver
19. NYC Jeff Caldwell GK 6-2 190 02/20/1996 Todd, N.C. Univ. of Virginia
20. HOU Michael Nelson GK 6-4 180 02/10/1995 Katy, Texas Southern Methodist Univ.
21. CLB Ben Lundgaard GK 6-5 200 09/25/1995 Greenville, Del. Virginia Polytechnic Institute
22. SEA Alex Roldan MF 5-10 155 07/28/1996 Pico Rivera, Calif. Seattle Univ.
23. MIN + Carter Manley DF 5-11 170 04/29/1996 Elkridge, Md. Duke Univ.
Generation adidas
% DC trade No. 3 overall selection in 2018 to LFC for $100,000 targeted allocation money and $100,000 general allocation money
MTL trade No. 4 overall selection in 2018 to DAL for $200,000 targeted allocation money
@ MIN trade No. 5 overall selection in 2018 to CHI for $100,000 targeted allocation money and $75,000 general allocation money, No. 15 overall selection in 2018 and future considerations
& MTL trade No. 7 overall selection in 2018 to MIN for $150,000 targeted allocation money
> RSL trade No. 10 overall selection in 2018 to CHI for $85,000 general allocation money
+ TOR trade No. 23 overall selection in 2018 to MIN for $50,000 targeted allocation money and No. 28 overall selection in 2018
ROUND 2
# TEAM PLAYER POS. HT WT DOB HOMETOWN CLUB/COLLEGE
24. LFC Pol Calvet Planellas MF 5-7 160 04/19/1994 Barcelona, Spain Univ. of Pittsburgh
25. COL Alan Winn FW 5-11 162 02/18/1996 Garland, Texas Univ. of North Carolina
26. VAN Lucas Stauffer DF 5-6 168 04/21/1995 Owensboro, Ky. Creighton Univ.
27. COL Frandtzy Pierrot FW 6-4 205 03/29/1995 Boston, Mass. Coastal Carolina Univ.
28. TOR + Tim Kubel DF 5-9 162 07/12/1993 Stuttgart, Germany Univ. of Louisville
29. DAL Mauro Cichero FW 6-3 175 08/01/1995 Norman, Okla. Southern Methodist Univ.
30. SJ Danny Musovski FW 6-0 170 11/30/1995 Henderson, Nev. Univ. of Nevada, Las Vegas
31. NYR Niko DeVera DF 5-5 150 07/23/1996 Camas, Wash. Univ. of Akron
32. CLB Edward Opoku
FW 5-7 140 08/01/1996 Millbrook, N.Y. Univ. of Virginia
33. RSL Ricky Lopez-Espin MF 6-2 200 12/02/1995 Miami, Fla. Creighton Univ.
34. DAL Chris Lema MF 5-10 160 08/05/1996 Ridgefield, N.J. Georgetown Univ.
35. SJ Mohamed Thiaw FW 6-2 176 01/24/1995 Lexington, Ky. Univ. of Louisville
36. ATL Oliver Shannon MF 6-0 170 09/12/1995 Liverpool, England Clemson Univ.
37. ATL Gordon Wild
FW 5-10 172 10/16/1995 Leonberg, Germany Univ. of Maryland
38. CHI Diego Campos MF 5-10 165 10/01/1995 San Jose, Costa Rica Clemson Univ.
39. NYR Tom Barlow FW 6-2 185 07/08/1995 St. Louis, Mo. Univ. of Wisconsin
40. LA Drew Skundrich MF 5-11 165 09/17/1995 Lancaster, Pa. Stanford Univ.
41. MIN Xavier Gomez MF 5-10 150 11/21/1994 Chicago, Ill. Univ. of Nebraska Omaha
42. NYC AJ Paterson DF 6-2 182 01/31/1996 Key Largo, Fla. Wright State Univ.
43. HOU Mac Steeves FW 6-4 215 07/31/1994 Needham, Mass. Providence College
44. CLB Jake Rozhansky MF 5-9 145 07/04/1996 Germantown, Md. Univ. of Maryland
45. SEA Markus Fjortoft DF 6-5 205 01/12/1994 Asker, Norway Duke Univ.
46. TOR Drew Shepherd GK 6-3 205 12/25/1994 Ann Arbor, Mich. Western Michigan Univ.
TEAM-BY-TEAM SELECTIONS:
Atlanta United
(3): Jon Gallagher (14); Oliver Shannon (36); Gordon Wild (37)
Chicago Fire
(3): Jon Bakero (5); Mo Adams (10); Diego Campos (38)
Colorado Rapids
(2): Alan Winn (25); Frandtzy Pierrot (27)
Columbus Crew SC
(3): Ben Lundgaard (21); Edward Opoku (32); Jake Rozhansky (44)
D.C. United
(0)
FC Dallas
(4): Francis Atuahene (4); Ema Twumasi (11); Mauro Cichero (29); Chris Lema (34)
Houston Dynamo
(2): Michael Nelson (20); Mac Steeves (43)
Sporting Kansas City
(2): Eric Dick (13); Graham Smith (18)
LA Galaxy
(2): Tomas Hilliard-Arce (2); Drew Skundrich (40)
Los Angeles FC
(3): Joao Moutinho (1); Tristan Blackmon (3); Pol Calvet Planellas (24)
Minnesota United FC
(4): Mason Toye (7); Wyatt Omsberg (15); Carter Manley (23); Xavier Gomez (41)
Montréal Impact
(0)
New England Revolution
(2): Brandon Bye (8); Mark Segbers (9)
New York Red Bulls
(3): Brian White (16); Niko deVera (31); Tom Barlow (39)
New York City FC
(2): Jeff Caldwell (19); AJ Paterson (42)
Orlando City SC
(1): Chris Mueller (6)
Philadelphia Union
(0)
Portland Timbers
(0)
Real Salt Lake
(1): Ricky Lopez-Espin (33)
San Jose Earthquakes
(3): Paul Marie (12); Danny Musovski (30); Mohamed Thiaw (35)
Seattle Sounders FC
(2): Alex Roldan (22); Markus Fjortoft (45)
Toronto FC
(2): Tim Kubel (28); Drew Shepherd (46)
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
(2): Justin Fiddes (17); Lucas Stauffer (26)
COLLEGE-BY-COLLEGE SELECTIONS:
Univ. of Akron (2): Niko deVera; Joao Moutinho
Butler Univ. (1): Eric Dick
Clemson Univ. (2): Diego Campos; Oliver Shannon
Coastal Carolina Univ. (1): Frandtzy Pierrot
Creighton Univ. (2): Ricky Lopez-Espin, Lucas Stauffer
Dartmouth College (1): Wyatt Omsberg
Univ. of Denver (1): Graham Smith
Duke Univ. (3): Markus Fjortoft; Carter Manley; Brian White
Florida International Univ. (1): Paul Marie
Georgetown Univ. (1): Chris Lema
Indiana Univ. (1): Mason Toye
Univ. of Louisville (2): Tim Kubel; Mohamed Thiaw
Univ. of Maryland (2): Jake Rozhansky; Gordon Wild
Univ. of Michigan (1): Francis Atuahene
Univ. of Nebraska Omaha (1): Xavier Gomez
Univ. of Nevada, Las Vegas (1): Danny Musovski
Univ. of North Carolina (1): Alan Winn
Univ. of Notre Dame (1): Jon Gallagher
Univ. of the Pacific (1): Tristan Blackmon
Univ. of Pittsburgh (1): Pol Calvet Planellas
Providence College (1): Mac Steeves
Seattle Univ. (1): Alex Roldan
Southern Methodist Univ. (2): Mauro Cichero; Michael Nelson
Stanford Univ. (2): Tomas Hilliard-Arce; Drew Skundrich
Syracuse Univ. (1): Mo Adams
Univ. of Virginia (2): Jeff Caldwell; Edward Opoku
Virginia Tech Univ. (1): Ben Lundgaard
Wake Forest Univ. (2): Jon Bakero, Ema Twumasi
Univ. of Washington (1): Justin Fiddes
Western Michigan Univ. (2): Brandon Bye; Drew Shepherd
Univ. of Wisconsin (3): Tom Barlow; Chris Mueller, Mark Segbers
Wright State Univ. (1): AJ Paterson
