After carping most of the summer about how too many of the PDL teams put winning over the D in PDL and using mostly older former college and former pro players, it's nice to see that so many of the players on the teams in the PDL Final Four will be playing college ball this fall. Players who'll be in college this fall are in bold. Boulder Rapids Reserve D Jason Bell Tampa M Scott Burcar San Diego M Erik Cronkrite Portland F Niko D'Alessandro Colorado School of Mines (Senior in 02) M Kevin Fickes (N/A) F Roy Fink Tampa M Travis Fletcher Colorado School of Mines D Aaron Heinzen Washington GK Parker Jarvis Denver D Joe Lampert UNC Charlotte D Justin Lowder Metro State (senior in 2001) M Aaron Pitchkolan Tampa M Grant Porter North Carolina (senior in 2000) F Jordan Quinn South Carolina D Robert Rosenberg South Carolina GK Curtis Spiteri Portland D Eric Talburt Colorado School of Mines F Jason Thompson Eastern Illinois M David Wagenfuhr Creighton D Mark Wellen Denver M Kevin Wilson Denver D Cole Beasley West Virginia (Not on 02 roster; don’t know when he played there) M Carson Porter North Carolina D Nic Hartman Denver GK Zac Jordan South Carolina M Mason Oatiey Elon F Devin McCarron Elon F Nate Jacqua Portland M Scott Bowman UC Irvine D Kevin Wickart Wake Forest (Expelled last spring; would have been a Sr.) The Rapids Reserves have a lot of players who will be getting looks from MLS including Jaqua, Spiteri, Thompson, Quinn and Wagenfuhr. Also, Fink was the D-II player of the year at UT and Wilson was on the U17 team way back when with Taylor Twellman and Dan Califf, etc... Southern California Seahorses GK Eric Pattison Masters (Sr. In 01) GK Mark Wade Biola GK Chris Swanner Chowan (Sr. In 98) D Ben Meek Westmont MF Beau Lawson Vanguard MF Joseph Villanueva Pasedena Polytechnic HS (committed to UVa) D Ricky Wade Vanguard MF Randy Wilson Point Loma Nazarene MF Josh McLeish Vanguard (Sr. In ‘00) D Gregg Schroeder Westmont MF Nate Andrews Asbury (Sr. In ’01) F Jon Spencer UC Irvine (Sr. In '01) F Matt Evans Azusa Pacific (Sr. In 01) D Todd Elkins Westmont (Sr. In '94) F Matt Hess Vanguard D Ben Bingham Westmont (Sr. In 01) MF Josh Murad UC Irvine F Jason Hotchkin Milligan D Joht T. Searles Marina High School D Joel Spencer UC Irvine MF Todd Marcus Westmont (Sr. In '00) F Diego Goni Vanguard (Sr. In '00) D Jacob Ward Azusa Pacific F Jordan Jones Azusa Pacific D Phil Yovino Biola (Sr. In '98) The Seahorses are a faith-based team and most of the players go to smaller, religious-oriented schools, most, but not all, of them in California. Milligan has made the PDL team of the week several times, as did Ward, and they would appear to be the players to watch. Cape Cod Crusaders G Ron Goguen Barry G Troy Perkins South Florida M Martin McNutt N/A D Evan Creedon N/A D Steven Gould Florida Tech D Paul Chase Boston College M Chris Corcoran St. John’s M Kentaro Seki N/A M Byran Harkin N/A M Methembe Ndlovu Dartmouth (Sr. In ’99) F Eric Reed N/A M Conor Lander Rhode Island D Philip Flakes N/A D Ian Pilarski Cornell F Nicola Chicco New Hampshire F Jamie Johnson Boston University (incoming freshman) D Scott Palguta Cornell F Felix Brillant Franklin Pierce F Adam Pfeifer Boston College M Brandon Jantz N/A F Neil Krause Boston College F Ryan Johnson Oregon State (incoming freshman) M Nicholas Tornatis Harvard (incoming freshman) M Anthony Tornartis Harvard (incoming freshman) M Luke Vercollone Seton Hall A lot of D-I players and the Tornatis twins and Ryan Johnson were on the Cape Cod team that won the Y-League U18 national title last year. Bradenton Academics The Bradenton site doesn’t list a roster and the only thing I know about them is that Heath Pearce, a former member of the U17 national team who is matriculating to Portland this fall, and Dixon Sofee, who will be a freshman at UNC this fall, are on the team.
Sandon, Thanks. Wonder how many of these guys are actually playing? Most PDL teams list a fairly roster large pool, but the actual playing roster is usually much smaller.
M Grant Porter North Carolina (senior in 2000) Grant is still an underclassman at UNC. I believe he's got two more years of eligibility
Here are the results and scorers from the semis. Cape Cod Crusaders 3 :: 2 Bradenton Academics BRA: Velez (Parkhurst) 22 CC: Reed (Vercollone) 27 CC: Harkin (Reed) 43 BRA: Bartholomew (Velez) 50 CC: Schmidt (Ndlovu) 77 Luke Vercollone, who assisted the first Cape Cod goal, plays for Seton Hall. Schmid is Casey Schmidt, who isn't listed on the roster on CC's website. He plays his college ball at Boston College, where he's a rising senior. He was the 2000 Offensive Player of the Year in the Big East but struggled with injuries last year and just played a few games. If he bounces back, he has a good shot at All Amerincan honors. I don't know who the Bradenton players are. So. California Seahorses 1 :: 5 Boulder Rapids Reserve BOU: Dunivant 12 BOU: Cronkrite (Bowman) 13 BOU: Bowman 17 BOU: Jacqua (Cronkrite) 21 BOU: Cronkrite (Jacqua) 35 SCA: Wilson (Goni) 76 5 goals in 23 minutes? Man, that's a helluva an explosion at any level. Impressive about that spurt is that they did it without leading scorer Jason Thompson who is in England with the US U23 team. I'm assuming Dunivant is Stanford's Todd Dunivant. He's not listed on Boulder's roster but he should become quite familiar to soccer fans over the next few years. He's an 80, so he's missed out on youth national teams the past few years but he has good size and is an excellent passer. He can play central defense, out wide, defensive midfield or even be a playmaking mid. (He'll likell play Dmid or center back at the next level.) Erik Cronkrite is a rising junior at Portland. He transferred there after spending his freshman year at New Mexico. Scott Bowman - not the hockey coach! - plays at UC Irvine. Nate Jaqua is also a rising junior at Portland. He was an All-American last year and is a member of the U23 team. The final is Saturday on Fox Sports World. It will be a good chance to glimpse several players who will be getting long looks from MLS folks this fall.
OK, this kid HAS to be a player with a last name like that. FWIW, the Crusaders played a warm-up match against the Revolution on Monday night, and were on the wrong end of a 3-1 scoreline. Schmidt, who seems poised for a big senior season, scored the lone goal for Cape Cod.