New England Soccer Today

GK Soffner Taken at 36

The New England Revolution concluded their SuperDraft festivities with a surprise pick, taking Indiana goalkeeper Luis Soffner at the 36th spot.

Soffner, who spent five seasons with the Hoosiers from 2008-2012, was the second goalkeeper taken in Thursday’s SuperDraft after Brad Stuver (Cleveland State) was selected 32nd by Montreal.

“I’m absolutely honored and excited to be chosen by the Revolution and to get to play in MLS,” Soffner said in a release from the team. “It’s a dream come true and I’m excited to get out there and looking forward to doing my part.”

Soffner started all 24 games for the Hoosiers in 2012, and blanked the opposition in over half of them (13). He posted a 0.72 GAA and recorded an .816 save percentage.

At 6-4, 210 lbs., Soffner has the size to wall up the net, and scouts saw vast improvement in his game during his senior campaign. His stop-shotting ability was one area that Soffner strengthened, though the scouting report on him notes that he needs to become stronger in the air.

With Matt Reis and Bobby Shuttleworth as the only two goalkeepers on the roster, Soffer is expected to fill in as the third-string goalkeeper.

2 Comments

  1. Robert

    January 17, 2013 at 5:33 pm

    Overall, it sounds like the Revs had a great draft. Although I was hoping we would draft Zimmerman, I loved the fact that Heaps & Burns aggressively worked the draft and moved to the top spot to get the player they targeted. By all accounts, Farrell is the real deal as a defender who just knows how to play the game. Donnie Smith is reportedly a dynamic left midfielder (who could convert to leftback) with tremendous crossing ability. His scouting report sounds like a faster Chris Tierney. Luke Spencer is a huge target forward at 6’2″ 200 lbs. Hopefully, he can develop to help bring depth to the frontline with Sene’ recovering from injury, and Bengston missing time due to national team commitments. It was a good move to draft Luis Soffner. It can’t hurt to draft the player who was awarded the title of best defensive player of the College Cup by backstopping Indiana U. to the national championship. And I can’t think of a better mentor than Matt Reis. As for the Supplemental Draft, one player who I hope the Revs look at is Kevin Durr from Air Force. Grew-up and developed his game in Germany. Check-out his scouting report.

  2. Robert

    January 18, 2013 at 12:06 pm

    Another player who I hope the Revs target is Eric Schoenle – the 6’2″ centerback from West Virginia. Thin at 147 lbs, but supposedly could’ve signed a Generation Adidas deal last year; he decided to return for his Senior season. I assume he had a down year, but worth a pick at this stage of the draft process. Tremendous in the air. Wouldn’t hurt to add another player to that backline.

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