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State pro notes: Rapids draft Marquette's Sjoberg No. 14 overall

01/18/2015, 9:00pm CST
By ERIC ANDERSON
Axel Sjoberg

After allowing a Major League Soccer-worst 62 goals in 2014, the Colorado Rapids set out to improve their defense this offseason – and the latest part of their plan involved Axel Sjoberg (Marquette).

The Rapids traded up five spots, acquiring the No. 14 overall selection from the Columbus Crew and picking the 6-foot-7 Swedish center back in the first round of the MLS SuperDraft on Thursday in Philadelphia.

Sjoberg is the third Marquette player drafted by an MLS club, all in the past three years: Calum Mallace was taken 20th by the Montreal Impact in the second round in 2012 and fellow midfielder Bryan Ciesiulka was the No. 75 pick by the Chicago Fire in the fourth round last year.

“I am really happy to be where I am today and can’t wait to move to Colorado and get started,” said the 23-year-old Sjoberg, who finished his Golden Eagles career with 11 goals and nine assists in 63 appearances (all starts) and signed with MLS before the SuperDraft.

A native of Stockholm, Sjoberg played for the academy at Djurgårdens IF before joining Sollentuna FF of the Division 2 Norra Svealand in 2010 – he was named the player of the year for the fourth-division club.

He came to Milwaukee in 2011 and started the Golden Eagles' first three matches, but suffered a broken foot and ended up taking a medical redshirt. Sjoberg had eight goals and three assists in 2012, and was a first-team, All-Big East Conference selection and team MVP for each of the past two seasons at Marquette.

Sjoberg also starred for the Thunder Bay Chill of the USL Premier Development League during the summer, making the All-PDL first team in 2013 and earning the team's "Best Defender" award in 2012 and '13.

The Rapids started their defensive rebuild late last season by signing 6-6 English center back Zat Knight, who played for Fulham, Aston Villa and Bolton Wanderers in the Premier League and Championships. Then they acquired two veteran MLS outside backs in Michael Harrington and Bobby Burling via trade and waiver draft.

In the second round of the SuperDraft, Colorado chose 6-6 Navy center back Joseph Greenspan – though he isn't expected to be available to the team until 2017 because of his military obligations.

“For me it's about being very intelligent, being able to organize, having good footwork with the ball and without the ball," Rapids coach Pablo Mastroeni said of the twin tower center backs. "I think Axel is one of those players and so is Joseph. They are two players that do all the little things right.”

Defender Matt Polster (Milwaukee) was selected by the Chicago Fire with the No. 7 overall pick in the SuperDraft. Polster, who was born in Wisconsin but grew up in Las Vegas, played at Southern Illinois-Edwardsville and made three appearances with the Fire's PDL team last summer.

The SuperDraft concludes Tuesday with the third and fourth rounds, which will be held via conference call.

On Twitter: @SjobergAxel

  • Forward Cara Walls (Wauwatosa East/UW) became the first UW player chosen in the National Women's Soccer League College Draft, as she was a third-round pick by the Chicago Red Stars in Friday's draft in Philadelphia. Walls, the No. 23 overall selection, finished second in UW history with 42 goals in 82 appearances and had a career-best 14 goals in 20 games as a senior last fall. “Cara was always a target for us in the third round because she fits in very well with the forwards we have,” Red Stars coach Rory Dames said of Walls, the fourth former Badger to be drafted by a pro women's team. She could become her family's second pro soccer player, as her brother Tony plays for the Rochester Rhinos in USL PRO and with the Milwaukee Wave of the Major Arena Soccer League. On Twitter: @Caarraaa

STATE PLAYERS DRAFTED BY PRO WOMEN'S LEAGUES

WUSA Player Pos. Hometown/college Team Round (Pick)
2000 Marci Miller M UW Atlanta Beat 4 (32)
2000 Lisa Krzykowski M UW-Milwaukee Atlanta Beat 7 (56)
2000 Allison Wagner F UW Boston Breakers 10 (76)
2003 Kate Gordon F Marquette Carolina Courage 4 (32)
WPS Player Pos. Hometown/college Team Round (Pick)
2009 Elise Weber D UW Saint Louis Athletica 3 (21)
2009 Lauren Sesselmann F Green Bay Chicago Red Stars 7 (44)
2009 Fanta Cooper D UW-Milwaukee Sky Blue FC 10 (67)
2010 Casey Nogueira M Cedarburg Los Angeles Sol 1 (8)
2010 Sarah Teegarden M UW-Milwaukee Saint Louis Athletica 6 (55)
NWSL Player Pos. Hometown/college Team Round (Pick)
2015 Cara Walls F Wauwatosa East/UW Chicago Red Stars 3 (23)
  • Defender Lauren Sesselmann (Green Bay Notre Dame) was one of 13 Canadian national team players allocated to NWSL teams for the 2015 season. The 31-year-old Sesselmann will remain with the Houston Dash – she was selected by the team in the expansion draft last year, but missed the entire season because of a torn ACL in her left knee suffered last February. On Twitter: @lsesselmann
  • Andrija Novakovich (Muskego) scored what proved to be the winning goal in the 75th minute as Reading fended off Arsenal 2-1 in a Premier League Under-18 South Group match Saturday in Wokingham, England. Novakovich gave the Royals a two-goal lead with his fifth goal of the season for the Under-18s (5-8-2), and the home side held on for the victory. On Twitter: @AndrijaNovakov3
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