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 Racine native Jesse Marsch will have five players with Wisconsin ties to choose from Wednesday when Major League Soccer holds an expansion draft to help stock the roster for the Montreal Impact.
New York Red Bulls goalkeeper Alex Horwath (UW), FC Dallas keeper Josh Lambo (Middleton), Sporting Kansas City defender Scott Lorenz (UW) and the San Jose Earthquakes duo of defender Tim Ward (Waukesha) and forward Ellis McLoughlin (Madison) are among the players made available.
Each of the 18 current MLS teams were allowed to protect 11 players – Vancouver Whitecaps center back and captain Jay DeMerit (Green Bay/Bay Port) was the only state player protected. No club can lose more than one player in the 10-round draft, though in recent years the expansion drafts have sparked several trades. In Lambo's case, there was some news Monday in the announcement of the protected and unprotected lists. Since being drafted by FC Dallas in 2008, he has been a member of Generation adidas, a program for young players that exempts their salaries from the salary cap. Generation adidas players are automatically protected for expansion drafts, so Lambo's inclusion on the unprotected list indicates he no longer will be in the program in 2012. The 20-year-old Lambo has seen extensive time in reserve matches and friendlies, but hasn't yet appeared in an MLS game.
Marsch, a 14-year MLS veteran and former U.S. national team assistant, was named the Impact's inaugural MLS coach in August. Montreal currently has four players on its roster: keeper Evan Bush, defender Hassoun Camara and midfielder Sinisa Ubiparipovic, who all played for the club in the second division North American Soccer League this year, and Colombian Nelson Rivas, a former River Plate and Inter Milan defender.
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