{"id":23510,"date":"2014-01-16T17:04:17","date_gmt":"2014-01-16T22:04:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=23510"},"modified":"2014-01-16T17:40:52","modified_gmt":"2014-01-16T22:40:52","slug":"revs-add-3-in-superdraft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=23510","title":{"rendered":"Revs Add 3 in SuperDraft"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_23511\" style=\"width: 451px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-23511\" data-attachment-id=\"23511\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?attachment_id=23511\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nesoccertoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/SteveNeumann_CommissionerDonGarberfeature.jpg?fit=490%2C240\" data-orig-size=\"490,240\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;5.6&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS 7D&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1389878782&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;200&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;2000&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.008&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"SteveNeumann_CommissionerDonGarberfeature\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Steve Neuamann poses with MLS Commissioner Don Garber after being selected fourth overall by the Revolution in the 2014 MLS SuperDraft. (Photo Courtesy MLSSoccer.com)&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nesoccertoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/SteveNeumann_CommissionerDonGarberfeature.jpg?fit=300%2C146\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nesoccertoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/SteveNeumann_CommissionerDonGarberfeature.jpg?fit=490%2C240\" class=\" wp-image-23511 \" alt=\"Steve Neumann poses with MLS Commissioner Don Garber after being selected fourth overall by the Revolution in the 2014 MLS SuperDraft. (Photo Courtesy MLSSoccer.com)\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nesoccertoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/SteveNeumann_CommissionerDonGarberfeature.jpg?resize=441%2C216\" width=\"441\" height=\"216\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nesoccertoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/SteveNeumann_CommissionerDonGarberfeature.jpg?w=490 490w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nesoccertoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/SteveNeumann_CommissionerDonGarberfeature.jpg?resize=300%2C146 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 441px) 100vw, 441px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-23511\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Steve Neumann poses with MLS Commissioner Don Garber after being selected fourth overall by the Revolution in the 2014 MLS SuperDraft. (Photo Courtesy MLSSoccer.com)<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"line-height: 1.5em;\">The New England Revolution surprised a few pundits when they took Georgetown midfielder Steve Neumann with the fourth overall pick of the 2014 MLS SuperDraft, but their strategy proved perhaps a masterstroke when the club still managed to grab Maryland forward Patrick Mullins \u2013 a player they were widely expected to take fourth \u2013 by trading up for the 11<\/span><sup style=\"line-height: 1.5em;\">th<\/sup><span style=\"line-height: 1.5em;\"> pick of the draft. The Revolution then addressed a need at defensive midfield in the second round by selecting University of California product Alec Sundly.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u201cComing into this draft, we were looking to strengthen a couple areas, with the attacking third being our primary focus,\u201d General Manager Michael Burns said in a club release. \u201cWe feel pretty good about coming out of today with both Steve (Neumann) and Patrick (Mullins). We\u2019re looking forward to getting them both in to camp next week, and then seeing how they adjust to MLS and our group.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>New England, who acquired the fourth overall pick from the Columbus Crew in exchange for the rights to Michael Parkhurst on Monday, opted to take Neumann, an attacking midfielder at that spot. Neumann, who many mock drafts had landing with his hometown Philadelphia Union at the sixth pick, was considered by many to be the most creative player in the draft. College coaches told MLSSoccer.com that the 22-year-old Neumann is a two-footed player capable of creating chances for himself and others. The 6-foot-0 Neumann finished his college career with 41 goals \u2013 including 14 game winners \u2013 and 34 assists in 86 appearances for Georgetown.<\/p>\n<p><script height=\"259px\" width=\"460px\" src=\"http:\/\/player.ooyala.com\/iframe.js#ec=t4NjloajoWYEjB3vniFcwQTxoQWU2Fw8&#038;pbid=2d940881487848159b3b99a3ae8125b9\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>With Saer Sene likely out for much of the start of the season due to a broken leg suffered in October, Neumann could potentially step right into the starting line-up in his place. Neumann is also a capable set piece taker who could help the Revolution address that area of weakness as the club has finished near the bottom in each of the last two seasons in goals from set pieces.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I know the Revs had a lot of young guys producing on the field this past year and that\u2019s something that I\u2019m aspiring to, to come in and make an impact right away and I think it\u2019s going to be fun to play alongside (Diego) Fagundez and (Kelyn) Rowe and all those guys and I think the attack will definitely get better with me and Pat (Mullins) joining the front line,&#8221; Neumann said in a conference call. &#8220;I\u2019m just excited to get going and work as hard as I possibly can to make the lineups and then start producing for the Revs.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>While many expected New England to take Patrick Mullins \u2013 the two-time Hermann Trophy winner \u2013 who was lauded as the most MLS-ready striker before the draft, at four, the Revolution still managed to get him with the 11<sup>th<\/sup> overall pick after they traded the 12<sup>th<\/sup> and 19<sup>th<\/sup> overall picks to Colorado for that selection. Named the top college soccer player in the country both his junior and senior year, Mullins tallied an impressive 24 goals and 10 assists in his senior season (including postseason play), while leading Maryland to the NCAA College Cup championship game. Mullins also tallied 17 goals and 10 assists in 24 games as a junior, taking the team to the national championship semifinals that year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery team prepares their draft boards and when we looked at ours, I don\u2019t think we envisioned both Steve and Patrick being available to us when we just held the number 12 pick. But when they ended up being available, we thought it was too good of an opportunity to pass up and drafted them,\u201d Burns said.<\/p>\n<p><script height=\"259px\" width=\"460px\" src=\"http:\/\/player.ooyala.com\/iframe.js#pbid=2d940881487848159b3b99a3ae8125b9&#038;ec=t0NjloajrGr1X68BjrZWpodvuYXASr8g\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The 21-year-old 6-foot-1 striker should compete right away for a starting spot with forwards Jerry Bengtson, Charlie Davies and Dimitry Imbongo after the club lost starting striker Juan Agudelo this offseason. Mullins finished his college career with 47 goals and 35 assists in 92 matches.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think, like Steve was saying, we\u2019re bringing some attacking players and we\u2019re both creative players,&#8221; said Mullins in a conference call. &#8220;And more for me, I think that I\u2019m a player that when I\u2019m in the box, I know how to get the ball in the goal so I think that\u2019s probably the best attribute to my game. I think that will translate to the next level and I believe that it will.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In the second round, with the 31<sup>st<\/sup> overall pick, the Revolution selected California defensive midfielder Alec Sundly. The 21-year-old team captain registered nine goals and two assists in 21 games for Cal this season. He finished his college career with 13 goals and 3 assists in 73 matches.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn second round with Alec (Sundly), we feel like we had a little bit of a steal there,\u201d Burns said. \u201cHe wasn\u2019t at the MLS Combine, which probably hurt him a little bit, but we\u2019ve seen him play and heard a lot of good things about him, so we\u2019re looking forward to getting him into camp, too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><script height=\"259px\" width=\"460px\" src=\"http:\/\/player.ooyala.com\/iframe.js#ec=ZzMzNuajo-NwMx57Pb0FzO1faVk8QCxb&#038;pbid=2d940881487848159b3b99a3ae8125b9\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Sundly will likely add depth behind Andy Dorman and Scott Caldwell as a defensive midfielder.<\/p>\n<p>The third and fourth rounds of the SuperDraft will take place on Tuesday. The Revolution hold the 12<sup>th<\/sup> pick in the third round (50<sup>th<\/sup> overall pick), but traded away their fourth round pick for the rights to Charlie Davies last summer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New England takes Georgetown midfielder Neumann and Maryland forward Mullins in the first round.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23511,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nesoccertoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/SteveNeumann_CommissionerDonGarberfeature.jpg?fit=490%2C240","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23510"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23510"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23510\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23516,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23510\/revisions\/23516"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/23511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}