“You were ON today”: Closing out soccer season with a bang

Obviously, I've been derelict in posting, to say the least. But I want to celebrate the culmination of my college soccer season today.

My spouse often asks how my broadcast went, and after one of many "OK" responses, or perhaps it was an "it could have been better" night, she said, "You never say 'Good' or 'great' when I ask."

I had to admit it was true. I'm hard on myself and tend to focus more on the things I think I should have done better than the things that went right.

But today, my last game of the season, the Ivy League men's championship game, called in person on the Princeton campus, felt right. It was an exciting game, with an early goal, a dramatic penalty kick save, and a late goal. It looked great, on a crisp, sunny afternoon with just enough fall foliage still lingering. And in addition to my knowledge of the teams, player identification, storyline development, interviews, chemistry with my partner, and on-camera hit, all of which felt good today, I also felt like I nailed the big moments.

I haven't listened back to any of it, to be honest, but all of the big spots felt good as they happened. My partner liked the goal calls, and I spoke long enough to punctuate it but quickly enough to lay out and let the pictures and sounds of player and fan reactions carry the mail.

A colleague texted me later, "You were on today!" and it took me a second to figure out what he meant. But I'll gladly take it. What a fun morning and afternoon, a great way to close my portion of the college soccer schedule!

West Virginia-Texas highlights

Enjoyed this one! Watched unapologetically from the air conditioning as West Virginia beat Texas in overtime on a wild play that went from a Texas corner kick at one end to a West Virginia game-winner at the other.





My first game working with Morgan Conklin, and we had a blast. Great to get back to Texas, even for less than 24 hours!

Closing out the weekend in Austin with @TexasSoccer hosting @wvuwomenssoccer.

Join @jtyardley & me on @LonghornNetwork now!! pic.twitter.com/DRgOtNG4ru

— Morgan Conklin (@_MConklin) October 6, 2019

Bleary eyes, getting JIP'd, and the power of one name

I'm still recovering a bit from my first Thursday-Sunday combination of the college soccer season, but I was fortunate to have some great moments to call.

To start things off, some early morning wake-up calls to get to and from Tallahassee left me a little sluggish, but I managed to squeeze in a short nap (a rarity for me) and get primed for our Thursday night Top-25 matchup between No. 6 Florida State, the defending national champs, and No. 24 Colorado.

Our network for this game, ACC Network, however, was primed for a different reason: the release of the men's college basketball schedule! The ACC is a basketball conference, as you may know, and the schedule reveal is a big deal, set to follow our 7pm game on a 9pm broadcast of All ACC. A college basketball fan and announcer, I was looking forward to it also, and I was quite happy to promote the show during our broadcast.

Then came the JIP.

JIP stands for joined in progress, and "getting JIP'd," in television parlance, means not coming on the air until the previous event concludes.

This was a major JIP. Soccer games typically last two hours. But college soccer games have overtime in the regular season, and this particular college soccer game had an injury, a sequence that led to an assistant coach being ejected, three penalty kicks, two video reviews (for no reason we could comprehend), and a team getting lost between the locker room and the field (seriously, it happened).

So even our regulation 90-minute game took us past 9pm, something partner Angela Hucles and I didn't realize up in the booth (see how happy we are!?). But we knew the score was 2-2 and we were headed to overtime, which meant some basketball fans were going to be screaming bloody murder.

Then I looked at the time during the commercial break before overtime and realized it was already 9:10 or 9:15, and we hadn't even started OT. We now had a sizable viewing audience that did not care know much about the first part of the game and, in many cases, was not enthusiastic about familiar with college soccer.

So I approached overtime with as much big-picture information as I could, reminding people that Florida State is the defending national champion, Colorado was unbeaten, FSU had dominated the game but only scored via penalty kick, Deyna Castellanos is an international star of sorts, and highlighted the key players on each team. It seemed to work:

Snark aside, FSU and Colorado are two Top 25 teams and @jtyardley is doing a very nice job on the play-by-play.

— Mike Waters (@MikeWatersSYR) September 13, 2019

But the big reason we left feeling good about ourselves is that we got an overtime game-winner! Everybody likes a walk-off, and Florida State delivered late in the first overtime to give us a dramatic ending and allow the majority of our audience by that point to get their hoops fix. Pretty cool moment to call:

Jenna Nighswonger called GAME.@FSUSoccer gets the W in OT! pic.twitter.com/xagYeaFvuH

— ACC Network (@accnetwork) September 13, 2019

To complete a sports trifecta, I scooped up an ACC baseball in the parking lot, presumably from a practice home run blast, so hopefully this means a return to Tallahassee for college baseball in the spring!

My Sunday game, with NC State hosting Furman, was nowhere near as dramatic, but we did get some impressive moments from Wolfpack star Tziarra King, who has the perfect Twitter handle for a one-name soccer star (@Tziarra) and is one of the country's most exciting players. Always happy to call a hat trick, always happy to call a run like this:

.@packwsoccer was down 1-0 early to Furman, but @tziarra and Co. were not having it!

Here's her equalizer in the 17th minute.

📺 ACC Network (https://t.co/b0ACtNFKPH)#GoPack // #NCState pic.twitter.com/gnXAlJbZaM

— NC State Athletics (@PackAthletics) September 15, 2019

Let's root for more heroics, more dramatics, and no more JIPs as the season continues!

New network, new role, new level unlocked!

As avid followers of this blog know ... I've been shirking my blogging duties. There are many reasons for this, but let's get past those and focus on not making it FIVE months without posting.

The news is that my role with ESPN will increase this year, a big professional deal that is more than three years in the making. It's occupied a lot of thought and attention and time, and it's really exciting to finally start. My focus will be on ACC Network soccer, with some professional soccer, college basketball, and miscellaneous odds and ends thrown in.

I'm not sure I'm capable of explaining what it means, after almost eight years of free-lancing, to have guaranteed broadcasting income. It's not a full-time deal at the moment (baby steps!), so there will still be plenty of free-lancing and scheming and job-chasing. But to earn and receive a commitment from ESPN and some people I truly respect and admire really provides encouragement and validation of work I've put in going back a long way, and it's something special.

I'm incredibly fortunate to have the support of family (nuclear and extended), and friends (old and new) in chasing, pursuing, and realizing this and other opportunities, and I really am grateful for it. This is neither the time nor the place to list everybody, but suffice it to say, Thank you.

Moving ahead, the fall schedule still has some moving parts to it, but it is well and truly underway with a two-game ACC Network week with games Sunday and Wednesday this week. Sunday was a special thrill and adrenaline rush, as Lori Lindsey and I called the second ever live event on newly launched ACC Network, and the first produced from a school control room. What's more, it was the first game at Syracuse for former Rice head coach Nicky Thrasher Adams, who I know from my undergraduate days at Rice, when she started her coaching career as an assistant. The emotions and intensity of seeing her new team pull out its first win was a welcome start to the season!

Missed last night's game? We got you covered. Visual recap of our 1-0 shutout of Colgate.⬇ 🍊⚽ pic.twitter.com/QN24kJOTTx

— Syracuse Women's Soccer (@cusewsoc) August 26, 2019

There is much more still to come, and I am hopeful of providing slightly more regular updates as the year goes along. But there's an ESPN paycheck in my bank account this morning, one I didn't have to submit an invoice for, and that's a goal I never felt certain of achieving.

On the move, on the job for the next week

When your work is free-lance, it's good to be busy, and I'm fortunate enough to start one of my busiest weeks of the year today.

I'm flying to Pittsburgh Wednesday evening to start a stretch that will see me call four games in six days (Thursday, Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday) and fly five different segments before returning to an airport for a second time. It's going to be intense, and it's going to be fun!

Our own Friday Night Lights on gorgeous evening at @wvuwomenssoccer vs @TexasTechSoccer! cc @catwhitehill4 pic.twitter.com/67t5LNxhmU

— Jonathan Yardley (@jtyardley) October 14, 2016

I start in my current season, college soccer, returning to the scene of the above vista to see the same game I called a year ago, West Virginia against Texas Tech on ESPNU, although I'm working with Kate Markgraf this year instead of Cat Whitehill. One ridiculously good defender and partner for another!

From there, I'll keep moving for the next week, possibly the longest I've ever been away from my daughter in her young life, to cover this set of games:

Upcoming broadcasts
Date	Game	Media	Partner
Oct. 19 5 pm ET	West Virginia vs. Texas Tech (NCAA women's soccer)	ESPNU	Kate Markgraf
Oct. 21 8 pm ET	Houston Rockets vs. Dallas Mavericks (NBA)	NBA League Pass VR	Viani / Rogondino
Oct. 22 6 pm ET	Auburn vs. LSU (NCAA women's soccer)	ESPNU	Cat Whitehill
Oct. 24 7:30 pm ET	Boston Celtics vs. New York Knicks (NBA)	NBA League Pass VR	Viani / Rogondino

It's a lot to prepare for, a lot of phone calls to squeeze in, and a lot of clothes to pack into one trip! But I intend to manage with a smile on my face, so check it out when you can.

Long, fun day at the "office"!

We had a crazy one today in Athens, Georgia. Not so much because of the game, which was plenty exciting and had tremendous scoring chances throughout. No, the weather kept us on the edge of our seats today.

With Hurricane Nate reaching the US mainland late Saturday night on the Gulf Coast, we knew our game, about 75 miles northeast of Atlanta, would likely be affected by rain and wind from the outskirts of the storm. We mentioned it briefly with the coaches on our Friday calls, but when models didn't show too much wind expected in the area for game time, we didn't think much of it.

But we did find out on Saturday that the coaches were considering trying to move the game to an earlier start time and discussing with ESPN SEC Network officials just what that would mean for the game broadcast. When I woke up Sunday and did not find an email outlining a change to the game time, I figured we were home free to kick at the scheduled 5pm time.

But in checking Twitter a little after 9 am, Texas A&M's soccer account posted that the game time had been changed to 2pm Eastern Time. So that was quite a way to find out. I immediately heard from Todd Jones, our producer, and we quickly met downstairs at the hotel with my partner, Jill Loyden, for our production meeting.

Playing through the rain! @AggieSoccer at @UGASoccer right now on WatchESPN, joined in progress on @SECNetwork w @jloyden! pic.twitter.com/DcyLIlhCho

— Jonathan Yardley (@jtyardley) October 8, 2017

It was an accelerated timeline, but nothing outrageous. We got underway at 2pm under steady rain, beginning on the SEC Network alternate channel and moving over to the main channel after the 1pm volleyball match finished. But the rain began to intensify after about 25 minutes, and by 30 minutes into the game, we couldn't see the far sideline due to the heavy rain and the wind, and I don't think our viewers could, either! The game was stopped shortly after, and we turned things over to taped programming and sat around to wait.

We watched other SEC games via the ESPN app, we talked to the Texas A&M radio broadcasters, we tried in vain to get some lunch, and we talked with our very helpful stage manager and statistician. We did two on-air updates to keep fans abreast of the schedule. All the while, Jill was having to rearrange her flight out of town, which I (thankfully) was spared.

Finally we got to resume at 4:50pm and enjoy the rest of the game, which saw Georgia goalkeeper Louise Högrell credited with 14 saves as the Bulldogs stayed with 19th-ranked Texas A&M and took them to overtime. Naturally we went all the way to the 109th minute, just 90 seconds before the game would have ended in a tie, with the game wrapping up more than four hours after it started.

Thankfully, it was well worth the wait! Texas A&M sophomore Grace Piper ended things with a really powerful left-footed shot from outside the penalty area, ending the day (that turned into night) on an exciting note!

I was really pleased with the effort from our entire crew to put together the post-game package, which we tape for the SEC website ... but unfortunately it doesn't embed well, so I'll just link to it here.

The game highlights, as they sounded in real-time, are right here:

Catching up, prepping for busy fall

It's been almost two full months since I've last posted, and I've called 9 soccer games in that time for a variety of outlets, including some terrific non-conference college action and New York Red Bulls games on both radio and TV. But maybe the busiest portion of my year is about to start.

College soccer is a big part of my workload, and I will be on the road on each of the next six weekends calling games, with a few other games thrown in. That schedule includes SEC women's soccer, Big XII women's soccer, Big Ten men's soccer, and, most notably, the ACC championship game in both women's and men's soccer. October and November are going to be busy! This stretch of games starts on Sunday, Oct 8, when I've got No. 19 Texas A&M facing Georgia in SEC women's soccer action.

• Full 2017 schedule, including highlights, post-game coverage

The preparation for it, however, goes back to mid-August. Since the SEC Network launched in 2014, I've been part of ESPN's team covering the conference, so I track how each team is doing, what formation they're using, and who's playing in what spot(s). So I watch a lot of games each week, mostly replays via WatchESPN. Sometimes I will sit and watch the games and take notes, particularly if I know I will be calling one of the teams. Other times, I will watch long enough to understand the starting lineups, then skip around looking for the goals.

But adding in both ACC tournaments this year, along with the ACC's agreement to stream its games on WatchESPN, has really given me a chance to focus on the nation's best soccer conference. So that's more than 40 teams I'm tracking every week of the college season, and it should really pay off when I need to research a team and can quickly access their lineups, results, and key moments in their season. Being able to put a team's season in context and understanding at least a little bit of their journey is really critical to a good telecast, and I'm looking forward to learning more about each of the teams I'll call over the next six weeks.

So that's part of what us announcers do when we're not actively calling a game or typing up notes for the next one. Preparation, both on a big-picture level and for specific teams, really never stops.

Arkansas en fuego - postgame from SEC Network

Arkansas has been one of the stories of the year in NCAA women's soccer, beating two top-5 teams and traditional powers (Duke, Florida) and reaching 11-1 overall, 4-0 in SEC play with Sunday's 2-1 win over Ole Miss.

Having called Arkansas games in Fayetteville each of the last two years, and having scouted them extensively while trying to figure out their wide variety of formations, I've been watching this team closely, and it was fun to see them in person on Sunday.

Here's how Cat Whitehill and I discussed takeaways following Sunday's game:

Postgame recap from Kentucky-Alabama

I watch a ton of video early in the college soccer season to prepare for games throughot the fall, and this weekend was the first time I got to put into action in 2016.

After calling Princeton's 2-1 win over Boston University on the men's side Friday night, I flew to Lexington, Kentucky for my first game of the year on the SEC Network on Sunday. I started calling SEC games two years ago when the network launched, and so I've really enjoyed keeping track of the league and its players in preparation for games.

On Sunday, Kentucky and Alabama finished in a 1-1 tie, but there were so many scoring chances throughout the game that we were really glued to the action. My partner was Jill Loyden, who I worked with on Philadelphia Union games last year, and it was great to welcome her to SEC coverage and see how impressed she was by Kentucky's facilities.

Here's how we recapped the game afterward:

Late fall broadcasts in photos

After being unsure of what (if!) my schedule would look like after college soccer conference championships on Nov. 8, I was fortunate enough to stay busy into the first weekend of December.

While running here, there, and everywhere to call three different sports, I found time to snap a picture or two to remember it all by:

A soccer field nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains …

… our home for the weekend at Appalachian State.

Clearly, one of us is more comfortable in cold weather.

With my new friend and partner, Eddie Rodriguez.

Happened to be in Oklahoma right before the Bedlam football game.

Also got to see Historic Gallagher-Iba Arena.

My actual work was at Reynolds Center, always a house of horrors for Rice.

But it treated Bryndon Manzer and me just fine.

In December, I enjoyed the scene at Georgia Southern.

Not that Vonnie Holliday and I weren't hard at work.

Taking selfies …

… and enjoying a great atmosphere in a budding rivalry

Overtime drama in American Athletic Conference women's soccer semifinals!

Given that I woke up at 6:22 am ET in New York this morning, flew to Dallas, called two overtime soccer games, and got back to my guest room at 11 pm CT this evening, I'm feeling pretty good.

I got to call two entertaining, dramatic games today in the American Athletic Conference women's soccer tournament, I did it with a very good partner and crew, and I got to call sudden-death game-winners each time.

Check out the highlights:
Game 1 - UConn vs. Cincinnati:



Game 2 - USF vs. UCF:


Not a bad day's work! Now to get ready for Sunday's final.

Catching up with Megan Rapinoe, a soccer flashback, and more

OK, so I've been a delinquent blogger lately. I've got some good excuses, but let's try to provide a brief recap:

Since my one-off return to college football in Troy with the inimitable Mickey Matthews on Sept. 12, I have called four college soccer games (one men's, three women's) with three different partners, all in different parts of the country. I've seen some great goals, a landmark win for Mississippi State (which was extra cool to see because I saw them struggle last year), and a rematch of last year's national championship game in women's soccer.

The highlight, however, had to be meeting and interviewing US women's national team star Megan Rapinoe, a woman I respect as much for her off-field public personality and leadership as for her on-field exploits. By just about all accounts, she's one of the best role models you could suggest for a niece, nephew, child, or friend. She was on hand at the Oct. 18 Portland-Santa Clara game as the Pilots celebrated their 2005 national championship team, on which she played, and joined another former Pilot, Shannon MacMillan, and me for an interview at the start of the second half.

Even more good news is that my soccer season is far from over. I just arrived in Dallas to call the American Athletic Conference women's semifinals (today, for the American Digital Network) and final (Sunday, for ESPN3/ESPNU). With the tournament being held at SMU's Westcott Field, this brings back some memories: As a student, I called Rice's trip to the 2003 WAC Tournament at the same venue, culminating in a heartbreaking, last-minute loss to SMU, then the conference's powerhouse.

I'm pretty sure those were my first soccer games called on the road, and I definitely remember some technical difficulties (note the old-school connection via phone line and an actual phone). Probably a good thing that, to my knowledge anyway, no copies of those games exist!

The four teams left in this year's field are all competitive, with UConn leading the way at No. 10 in the country, and links to watch the games can be found here.

At any rate, next weekend I will turn back to the men's game, calling the Sun Belt Conference men's tournament in the somewhat remote town of Boone, N.C., home to Appalachian State University, in what will likely close the book on my 2015 soccer season.

Much more on that later, however. For now, I'm off to watch and call some top-25 teams play elimination games with a conference title and more on the line. Not bad at all!

Calling battle of SEC heavyweights on Sunday: No. 6 Florida at Arkansas

Only two women's soccer teams remain unbeaten in SEC play through four rounds of play, and those two will go head-to-head Sunday morning (noon ET) in Fayetteville, Arkansas, when No. 6 Florida (9-2, 4-0 SEC) takes on Arkansas (6-2-4, 2-0-2 SEC). I'll have the call on the SEC Network with 1999 World Cup-winning coach Tony DiCicco (nice resume, eh?).

Where we'll be watching from.

Florida's won five games in a row, including a dramatic 1-0 win at Texas A&M on Friday night in a battle of the conference's top two teams. Arkansas is no slouch, though: The Razorbacks made a Cinderella run to the NCAA Round of 16 last year in the first NCAA tournament appearance in their 28-year history! They play a rough-and-tumble polar opposite of Florida's smooth passing game, so it will provide yet another game featuring a contrast in styles.

You want stars? Florida has US U-20 forward Savannah Jordan, who scored 22 goals as a freshman last year and had the game-winner against A&M (and scored to eliminate Arkansas in last year's SEC quarterfinals). The Gators have 6-foot-1 goalkeeper Taylor Burke, a dual soccer/high-jump star who is one shutout away from tying the Florida career record. They also have a 6-foot Slovenian international with crazy hair and one of the best center-back tandems around. Fun team to watch.

You'll be happy to know I got a lower-key rental car this week.

Arkansas has US U-23 attacker Ashleigh Ellenwood, whose long throw-ins are a vital part of the Razorback game plan -- sometimes it looks like her arms are more tired than her legs at the end of a game! Senior Tyler Allen has already been on SportsCenter twice this year, thanks to her habit of sending in dangerous free kicks from deep positions. The Razorbacks also have bright underclassmen in goalkeeper Cameron Carter and attackers Sparky Fischer and Nicole Ortega. (I use the generic term "attackers" because trying to assign consistent spots to Arkansas's formations is extremely difficult.)

Moving planks one at a time. to support the lift

When I landed this afternoon, I went straight to Razorback Field, where our intrepid crew was setting up for the 11 am (local time) kickoff on Sunday. That meant I got to see how they lined up the scissor lift for our end-zone camera without messing up the stadium's grass: CAREFULLY.

Well worth it for a great view on Sunday.

Coaches love to talk about chess matches on the field ... this one was at the airport.

Calling top-5 matchup between Virginia, Florida State on ESPNU Sunday

Our midfield view at the Seminole Soccer Complex.

My fall slate of soccer games hits its most high-profile contest on Sunday, with No. 3 Virginia (ranked No. 2 by Soccer America) taking on No. 5 Florida State at 4 p.m. ET on ESPNU. If you like watching soccer at all, this game is worth checking out. Here's why:

1. The best player in college soccer. Morgan Brian is 21, a senior at Virginia, and part of the US women's national team. You may have heard of them. She won the Hermann Trophy as the country's top player last year (this highlight reel gives you some idea), and she's already got three goals and five assists in seven of Virginia's 10 games this year, missing three while playing for the US. An O-mid in college and D-mid for the US, she is an exceptionally technical player, equally comfortable playing one-touch passes and using intricate dribbling moves. I've been very impressed watching her on video, and I'm looking forward to seeing her play in person. On the Virginia side, I'm also looking forward to seeing US U-20 forward Makenzy Doniak (I called her games this summer in the U-20 Womens' World Cup) and versatile midfielder Danielle Colaprico, a New Jersey product who has played all four midfield spots this year and excelled in each.

2. International flavor. Two of Florida State's top offensive threats hail from Iceland, 5-foot-11 Dagný Brynjarsdóttir (herself a candidate for this year's Hermann Trophy) and 5-foot-9 Berglind Thorvaldsdóttir. Yes, that means their fathers' names are Brynjar and Thorvald. The Seminoles also have players from Ireland, Finland, Japan, Germany, and Canada.(and New Jersey!)

3. It's going to be close. 17 of the last 20 games between these ACC rivals have been decided by one goal or finished tied, and their last four regular-season games have gone to overtime. It will also likely be played with pace and skill rarely seen in the college ranks.

4. Virginia's ridiculous offense. The Cavaliers led the country in scoring last year with 3 goals per game and are averaging 3.6 in 2014. They have scored at least two goals in every game this season and have scored in 44 consecutive games, the longest active streak in Division I. They've also won 31 consecutive regular-season games. Their last regular-season loss? In overtime at Florida State on Oct. 14, 2012.

5. These teams need to be tested. Both went to the College Cup last year and were eliminated in heartbreaking fashion by national champion UCLA. But this year, they have not faced a lot of sturdy opposition. Florida State has played two ranked teams, beating Portland and losing (at home) to rival Florida, while Virginia has yet to play a ranked opponent.

After flying in on Saturday afternoon, I watched Virginia's walk-through on a bumpy football practice field (in the shadow of Doak Campbell Stadium) and checked out Florida State's facilities, including the softball field (which shares a concourse with the soccer stadium) and baseball stadium. Not surprisingly, humidity and bugs were everywhere, but I have a feeling that won't slow these teams down this afternoon.

I'm excited to work with ACC, NCAA, and Olympic champion Cat (Reddick) Whitehill for the second straight week, with coverage starting on ESPNU at 4 p.m. ET or after the conclusion of the Florida-Mizzou game that starts at 2 ET (also worth watching). Should that game go into overtime, our show will start on WatchESPN. But whenever and however you have the chance, it'll be worth watching!

MLS home-grown prospect update

The MLS offseason has a number of different sub-plots, and one of my favorites is collegiate soccer players with the potential to be signed to home-grown contracts. It’s early in December, but we’re already getting news on the home-grown player front. Between the NCAA College Cup and the initial list of players invited to January’s MLS Combine, we’re getting a good idea of which senior prospects could be signing directly with a club, rather than hoping to be picked in the SuperDraft. (Underclassmen, of course, are another story.)

I was a little surprised to hear so much talk about the draft prospects of Georgetown midfielder Ian Christianson (a senior) and Maryland forward Patrick Mullins (a junior) during the College Cup, given that both were claimed by the Fire on a 2010 list of home-grown claims. That list had yet to be ratified by MLS, however, and claims from a variety of teams later fell through. So I’ve been curious about the specific cases of Christianson and Mullins, and I think I now have answers:

Christianson
It seems that Christianson played for the Chicago Fire Academy in his junior and senior years of high school and then went to Georgetown. Where the situation gets tricky, however, is the fact that Christianson’s hometown of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is a good 220 miles from Bridgeview, much greater than the maximum of 75 miles allowed by the Fire’s specified home territory. Based on the original MLS home-grown player rules, which could have been changed by now, teams were allowed two territorial exemptions (players who live outside the home territory) per age group (there were six age groups at the time; the rules contain no explanation of what happens when a territorial exemption moves up an age group).

MLSsoccer.com’s Daniel Robertson reported on Sunday that Christianson said his lack of home-grown eligibility was a decision made by MLS, but Fire Director of Communications Brendan Hannan said in an e-mail that Christianson was not on the club’s home-grown list because, “the club is left with difficult decisions on who to place on the ‘out of area’ home-grown list.” Reading between the lines, the Fire must have (either now, or at some point during Christianson’s association with the club) decided to prioritize two other prospects from outside the home territory.

Mullins
This is an interesting one. Mullins played youth soccer in Louisiana for Lafreniere SC, one of several clubs that merged to form the Chicago Fire Juniors Louisiana club. Hannan's email said, however, that Mullins had left for college before his club’s official affiliation with the Fire.

Normally this would be understandably clear-cut, but the decision not to accept the Fire’s claim to Mullins (a claim they did make as far back as 2010, and he has since played for Fire U-20 teams) seems to contradict a recent MLS precedent. Last year, MLS accepted the Portland Timbers’ home-grown claim to forward Brent Richards, who played youth soccer for EastSide United way before the MLS Timbers even existed and also played for the Timbers’ PDL team. EastSide United was later folded into the MLS Timbers’ youth system, providing the basis for Richards’ signing. In a somewhat similar situation, I have heard that the San Jose Earthquakes will be able to place a home-grown claim on former U.S. U-17 and current Santa Clara goalkeeper Kendall McIntosh, even though he left for U-17 residency before his club became affiliated with the Earthquakes. This is likely a few years away, but worth noting.

We don’t know how much back-and-forth there was between MLS and the Fire over these two players, but it is interesting to track some of these borderline cases. Believe me, there are a lot more behind the scenes that we don’t hear about.

As for home-grown MLS prospects, here is a summary of what is being reported about some of those already linked to pro deals for 2013, notably from Adam Jardy at the Columbus Dispatch and Ives Galarcep of Soccer By Ives:

MLS club	Player	College	HG claim status	Outlook
Chicago	MF Ian Christianson	Georgetown	none	MLS combine
Columbus	DF Chad Barson	Akron	accepted	likely to sign
Columbus	GK Justin Luthy	Boston College	accepted	likely to sign
Columbus	DF Matt Wiet	UCLA	accepted	likely to sign
Columbus	MF Wil Trapp	Akron (soph.)	accepted	hired agent, could sign
D.C. United	FW Uwem Etuk	West Virginia	club declined	MLS combine
FC Dallas	DF London Woodberry	Maryland	accepted	contract offered
New England	MF Scott Caldwell	Akron	accepted	likely to sign
Portland	FW Erik Hurtado	Santa Clara	denied	MLS combine

Just for fun, here are some other players who could be looking at pro contract offers, even though I haven't seen it reported:

MLS club	Player	College	Resume
Chicago	MF Bryan Ciesiulka	Marquette (jr.)	2nd tm Big East; 5g, 9a
Chicago	MF Harry Shipp	Notre Dame (jr.)	3rd tm Big East; 6g, 6a
Colorado	GK Brendan Roslund	San Francisco (sr.)	6-foot-6; 0.99 GAA
Colorado	DF Patrick Slogic	Cornell (jr.)	6-foot-5; 1st tm all region
Colorado	MF Dillon Serna	Akron (fr.)	1st tm MAC; 2g, 8a
FC Dallas	DF Mikey Ambrose	Maryland (fr.)	2nd tm ACC; 1g, 7a
FC Dallas	MF Danny Garcia	UNC (fr.)	2nd tm ACC; Frosh POY
FC Dallas	DF Boyd Okwuonu	UNC (so.)	1st tm ACC
Houston	DF Sebastien Ibeagha	Duke (jr.)	ACC Def. POY
LA Galaxy	FW Gyasi Zardes	CSU-Bakersfield (jr.)	MPSF POY; 15gls in 17gms
New York	GK Keith Cardona	Maryland (so.)	1.14 GAA
New York	FW Brandon Allen	Georgetown (fr.)	Big East Rookie of Yr; 16g, 2a
Portland (from NY)	MF Bryan Gallego	Akron (so.)	2nd tm MAC
Portland	MF Steven Evans	Portland (jr.)	1st tm WCC; 14g, 3a
Seattle	DF DeAndre Yedlin	Akron (so.)	1st tm MAC; 6a
Seattle	FW Sean Okoli	Wake Forest (so.)	2nd tm ACC; 11g, 3a
Seattle	MF Aaron Kovar	Stanford (fr.)	Pac 12 Frosh of Yr; 3g, 2a
Toronto FC	FW Allando Matheson	UConn (so.)	7g, 1a
Vancouver	MF Ben McKendry	New Mexico (fr.)	MPSF Newcomer of Yr

One more post on HGPs: 2012 freshmen

In writing about men's college soccer, which kicks off tonight, it's usually best to stay away from freshmen until after they've played a few games. Some guys come in with a reputation and live up to it, but it's hard to predict, coaches don't like to talk about it, etc.

So when writing about MLS home-grown players in college soccer, both the Top Drawer Soccer team and myself, when compiling our lists of top prospects, have mostly stayed away from freshmen.

Because more information is better, however, I'm going to present a list of notable MLS-protected freshmen in college this season without making evaluations. Here is one college freshman from each MLS team (except Montreal) that I have heard of with good reason. I'm not saying these are the best players or that they will one day be a professional, merely that I have heard of each one for his soccer ability. Here they are, presented in alphabetical order by MLS team:

Chicago Fire - FW Andrew Oliver, Indiana, 5-8, 160
Chivas USA - DF Brendan Hines-Ike, Creighton, 6-1, 170
Columbus Crew - DF Andrew Souders, Akron, 5-11, 165
Colorado Rapids - MF Dillon Serna, Akron, 5-7, 135
D.C. United - FW Luis Rendon, Duke, 5-10, 160
FC Dallas - DF Mikey Ambrose, Maryland, 5-9, 155
Houston Dynamo - DF Bradley Bourgeois, Tulsa, 5-11, 190
Sporting Kansas City - FW Nate Opperman, Evansville, 6-0, 170
LA Galaxy - MF Grady Howe, UCLA, 5-10, 155
New England Revolution - DF Mitchell Taintor, Rutgers, 6-2, 175
New York Red Bulls - FW Brandon Allen, Georgetown, 6-0, 180
Philadelphia Union - FW Darius Madison, Virginia, 5-8, 160
Portland Timbers - MF Mikhail Doholis*, Oregon State, 5-10, 160
Real Salt Lake - MF Cole Nagy, UCLA, 5-8, 160
Seattle Sounders - MF Aaron Kovar, Stanford, 5-10, 155
San Jose Earthquakes - GK Kendall McIntosh, Santa Clara, 5-11, 160
Toronto FC - FW Omari Morris, Akron, 5-4, 145
Vancouver Whitecaps - MF Ben McKendry, New Mexico, 5-11, 150

* like many players with ties to Portland at this point, there are questions about the home-grown eligibility of Doholis

In case you can't get enough HGPs

One of my favorite MLS-related tasks over the last few years has been trying to track which players in college soccer have ties to MLS academies and are eligible to sign home-grown contracts. It's pretty cool to be able to nod understandingly when Alex Dixon, Connor Lade, or Matt Lampson signs a home-grown contract and be able to say they had been on your radar for a few years.

So I have a long list of players I believe to be associated with each club, although confirming their status on that club's protected-player list is usually tricky, if not impossible. This summer, I worked with the tireless Travis Clark at Top Drawer Soccer, and he's posted some of the top MLS-associated players to watch in college soccer this year. The list is a must-read and will get you acquainted with guys who could definitely be in MLS next year.

I agree with all the names on that list, but I wanted to add a few more that you may want to keep an eye on. Check them out after the jump:

Larger-than-life Hassli a happy camper in 2012

Wherever he goes, Eric Hassli stands out. With his size, his tattoos, and his almost-shaved head, he can be seriously intimidating. A minute later, however, his face creased into a smile, he exudes a youthful exuberance that is a magnet for those around him. Standing a head taller than many of his teammates after a Whitecaps training session Friday morning, Hassli was one of the chief jokesters as Jay DeMerit tried to organize the group for a video to be played inside BC Place. Hassli yelled louder than everybody else (often out of turn) and yelled, “Again, again,” when the group broke up after the second take, just to see how many teammates would take the bait and stick around. MLS Insider Shawn Francis caught some additional hijinks on camera.

Almost exactly one year after signing with the Whitecaps as their first designated player, Hassli is a happy camper in his first full preseason with Vancouver. New head coach Martin Rennie has the Whitecaps – and Hassli – set for a 180-degree reversal heading into the new year, with an impressive array of talent, a more cohesive work ethic, and a 3-0 mark with a 7-0 goal differential in the Disney Pro Soccer Classic.

Home-grown talent going elsewhere

Daniel Roberts, UNC-Wilmington

I heard a lot of talk prior to the SuperDraft about how MLS academies would eventually render the draft irrelevant. There are a lot of reasons why I think that will not be the case – are MLS teams really going to set up satellite academies in every part of all 50 states? – but there was a little more evidence in Tuesday’s four-round supplemental draft.

By my count, six players with strong ties to MLS academies were selected, four by other clubs and two by clubs that already held their rights. Now, we don’t know the behind-the-scenes issues in each case. MLS may have rejected home-grown claims on one or multiple players. But it seems to indicate that, because not all players from an MLS academy will be good enough to earn a roster spot on their hometown team, they will sometimes need an avenue to play elsewhere, and a draft is the MLS way of dispersing those players.

Below is the list of players selected Tuesday who have home-grown ties. Please post in comments if you have additional information on any players.

Draft Day Diary

I’ve spent the last three SuperDrafts in the convention center, wearing a suit, and trying desperately to figure out if my team would make a trade. This year I’m on my couch, wearing shorts and a T-shirt, and trying desperately to keep my beagle from needing a bathroom break during the event itself. Slightly different experience. That said, following along via ESPN3 and various MLS personalities on Twitter could be a better way to experience this day of madness. Let’s find out: