{"id":31082,"date":"2015-01-25T22:35:54","date_gmt":"2015-01-26T03:35:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=31082"},"modified":"2015-01-26T08:58:30","modified_gmt":"2015-01-26T13:58:30","slug":"okoli-seeking-fresh-start-in-ne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=31082","title":{"rendered":"Okoli Seeking Fresh Start in NE"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo<\/a>

Photo credit: Chris Aduama\/aduamaphotography.com<\/p><\/div>\n

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. \u2013 Less than a year after signing a Homegrown Deal with the Seattle Sounders, forward Sean Okoli was confronted with the first difficult decision of his pro career.<\/p>\n

Although he saw action in U.S. Open Cup and the Reserve League last year, he only gathered 19 minutes in MLS in 2014. Following the season, his option was declined, and with more time with the first team unlikely, he quietly hoped to find an opportunity elsewhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey wanted me to stay there and play and get some minutes with S2 (USL-PRO),\u201d Okoli said. \u201cBut once New England came around, and showed that they were interested, I did everything I could, in the most respectful way, to see if I could make the move out here.\u201d<\/p>\n

That move, though, wouldn\u2019t be as clear cut as he expected, though. Even though the Sounders declined his option, they still owned his MLS rights. Thus, a deal would have to be worked out in which he would be dealt to a different organization.<\/p>\n

While the Revolution had asked about Okoli prior to the SuperDraft, a deal for the former Wake Forest product was anything but a certainty. The Sounders had eyes on goalkeeper Tyler Miller, and kept its eye on the draft board going into the second round.<\/p>\n

After discussing the parameters of a possible deal, the Sounders and Revolution struck a deal: the 33rd overall pick was sent to Seattle \u2013 who used it to select Miller \u2013 for future considerations. Those considerations were Okoli\u2019s rights, pending league approval.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just got a call from my agent, and then I had to wait on some things,\u201d Okoli said. \u201cBut once it got finalized, I got (another) call from my agent, and the Sounders called me not too long after and explained it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Days after the Revolution acquired Okoli\u2019s rights, they inked him to a new deal. The new opportunity he hoped for was finally his.<\/p>\n

Donning the same number 7 that another promising forward sported last season \u2013 Patrick Mullins \u2013 Okoli is hoping to give the Revolution more than just depth at an area of need.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like to play up front, and I like to hold the ball up, and get in behind,\u201d Okoli said. \u201cSo I think if you are defending, or if the game needs me to, I think I can do that for these guys and try to help them out and score goals.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the former Sounders Academy striker native admits that he\u2019s got a lot of new names to learn as preseason camp gets underway, one player he\u2019s pretty familiar with is a fellow Federal Way (Wash.) native: Kelyn Rowe.<\/p>\n

\u201cI talked to him a little bit just about the city, and the club,\u201d Okoli said. \u201cHe thinks it\u2019s a good fit for me, and he\u2019s excited to start working with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Time will tell whether Okoli fits into the Revolution\u2019s scheme. For now, though, the former Sounder is grateful that he\u2019ll at least get a fair shot in New England.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m glad the trade went through,\u201d Okoli said. \u201cI just think this is a better place for me when it comes to opportunities. (It\u2019s) just a fresh start coming off of last year, so I\u2019m excited to get started.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former Sounders Homegrown Player Sean Okoli is grateful for the opportunity to make a name for himself in New England.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31084,"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":[891,49,888,911,892],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nesoccertoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Sean-Okoli-1.png?fit=600%2C415","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31082"}],"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\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31082"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31082\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31087,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31082\/revisions\/31087"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/31084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}