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
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) |