Three Dawgs Invited To MLS Combine
December 12, 2015 | Men's Soccer
MLS Release
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Major League Soccer announced its list of invites to the 2016 adidas MLS Player Combine. The 59 invitees represent the top players from across the country in college soccer that will showcase their talents for all 20 MLS clubs.
Among the invitees are Washington seniors Josh Heard, James Moberg and Ryan Herman. Each will participate at the combine from Jan. 7-12 in anticipation of the 2016 MLS SuperDraft that will take place on Thursday, Jan. 14 in Baltimore, Md.
The three Huskies are the second-most of any school, trailing only Georgetown who had four players invited. Pac-12 rival Stanford also has three players going to Fort Lauderdale to tie the Dawgs for second-most.
Last year, Washington also had three players invited in Spencer Richey, Cristian Roldan and Andy Thoma. All three Dawgs were selected in the Draft with Roldan going in the first round to Seattle, Thoma in the second round to Portland and Richey in the third round to Vancouver.
The six players to be invited to the combine is the most over the past two years with the Dawgs and North Carolina being the only schools to achieve that total.
This year's crop of Huskies will have high hopes of joining last year's draftees at the professional level. Heard brings his experience as a winger, scoring 13 goals for the Dawgs in his four years on Montlake. Moberg was expected to be one of the top players in college soccer this season, but an injury limited him to just six games. He'll look to prove his health that could make him one of the top prospects in the draft. Finally, Herman is coming off an All-America season in goal where he was among the top goalkeepers statistically in the nation. He should be one of the first option for a team looking to improve their situation in net.
The 2016 Draft should further demonstrate the influx of talent entering MLS since Jamie Clark has taken over the program at Washington. In addition to last year's draftees, Taylor Peay was taken in the first round by Portland in 2014 and saw immediate dividends as he was among the 18 that suited up for the MLS Cup final and helped the Timbers hoist the trophy.
