Ernesto Carranza became the first Hornet to be invited to the MLS Player Combine.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Sacramento State's Ernesto Carranza was one of 54 Div. I college seniors invited to participate in the 2011 adidas Major League Soccer Player Combine in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., on Jan. 7-11.
Carranza is the first Hornet to earn an invitation to the MLS combine, a showcase for the top players in men's college soccer. He finished his four-year career at Sacramento State as the school's all-time leader in assists (20), games played (82) and games started (81). He also moved into fourth all-time with 18 goals and second all-time with 54 career points.
"We're very excited for Ernesto and his family," said head coach Michael Linenberger. "It's not only a testament to Ernesto's performance and hard work over the last couple of years, but to the success we've had as a program. We hope this is the first of many combine invitations to come."
MLSsoccer.com will have full coverage of the combine games and profiles of many of the players.
The 54 players invited to attend the combine come from 37 different schools. The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation has two representatives, with Carranza and Denver goalkeeper Joe Willis scheduled to participate.
The MLS SuperDraft will take place on Jan. 13 in Baltimore, Md. in conjuction with the National Soccer Coaches Association of America annual convention. The Vancouver Whitecaps and Portland Timbers, both expansion teams, have the top two picks in the upcoming draft. The MLS draft consists of four rounds of 18 picks, one for each of the league's 18 teams.
2011 adidas MLS Player Combine list by position
GOALKEEPERS (5): Bryan Meredith (Monmouth); Jeff Attinella (University of South Florida); Jimmy Maurer (South Carolina); Joe Willis (University of Denver); Josh Ford (UConn)
DEFENDERS (17): A.J. Soares (California); Bilal Duckett (Notre Dame); Bobby Warshaw (Stanford); Christopher Korb (Akron); Colin Givens (Michigan State); Curtis Ushedo (UAB); Demitrius Omphroy (California); Eddie Ababio (UNC); Greg Klazura (Notre Dame); Greg King (UConn); Indy Smith (UNC Wilmington); Jalil Anibaba (UNC); J.T. Murray (Louisville); Juan Cruz (SMU); Michael Boxall (UCSB); Rich Balchan (Indiana); Tyler Lassiter (North Carolina State)
MIDFIELDERS (21): Anthony Ampaipitakwong (Akron); Blake Brettschneider (South Carolina); Cole Grossman (Duke); Daniel Keat (Dartmouth); Dustin McCarty (UNC);Ernesto Carranza (Sacramento State); Guillermo Cortes (Maryland); Hector Jimenez (California); Jimmy Banks (Green Bay); John "Jeb" Brovsky (Notre Dame); Jon Okafor (Brown); Josue Soto (SMU); Karl Reddick (Boston College); Konrad Warzycha (Ohio State); Lebogang Pila (St. Peter's College); Matheus Braga (Penn State); Matt Gold (Ohio State); Michael Farfan (UNC); Servando Carrasco (California); Stephen McCarthy (UNC); Tommy Drake (Clemson)
FORWARDS (11): Amani Walker (UCI); Ashley McInnes (Tulsa); Brayan Martinez (Seton Hall University); CJ Sapong (James madison); Davis Paul (California); Efrain Burgos (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo), Jason Herrick (Maryland); Justin Meram (Michigan); Levi Houapeu (UMBC); Philip Bannister (Loyola University Maryland); Steven Perry (Notre Dame)
2011 adidas MLS Player Combine list by school
Akron: Anthony Ampaipitakwong, Christopher Korb
UAB: Curtis Ushedo
Boston College: Karl Reddick
Brown: Jon Okafor
California: Servando Carrasco, Hector Jimenez, Demitrius Omphroy, Davis Paul, AJ Soares
UC Santa Barbara: Michael Boxall
UC Irvine: Amani Walker
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo: Efrain Burgos
Connecticut: Josh Ford, Greg King
Clemson: Tommy Drake
Dartmouth College: Daniel Keat
Denver: Joe Willis
Duke: Cole Grossman
Indiana: Rich Balchan
James Madison: CJ Sapong
Louisville: J.T. Murray
Loyola University Maryland: Philip Bannister
Maryland: Guillermo Cortes, Jason Herrick
Maryland, Baltimore County: Levi Houapeu
Michigan: Justin Meram
Michigan State: Colin Givens
Monmouth: Bryan Meredith
North Carolina: Eddie Ababio, Jalil Anibaba, Michael Farfan, Stephen McCarthy, Dustin McCarty
UNC Wilmington: Indy Smith
North Carolina State: Tyler Lassiter
Notre Dame: John (Jeb) Brovsky, Bilal Duckett, Greg Klazura, Steven Perry
Ohio State: Matt Gold, Konrad Warzycha
Penn State: Matheus Braga Sacramento State: Ernesto Carranza
Seton Hall : Brayan Martinez
South Carolina: Blake Brettschneider, Jimmy Maurer
South Florida: Jeff Attinella
Southern Methodist : Juan Cruz, Josue Soto
St. Peter's College: Lebogang Pila
Stanford : Bobby Warshaw
Tulsa: Ashley McInnes
UW Green Bay: Jimmy Banks
