Canadians Tani Oluwaseyi, O’Vonte Mullings and Mo Omar went in the first round of the MLS SuperDraft on Tuesday.
Oluwaseyi, a forward from St. John’s University, was taken 17th overall by Minnesota United while Mullings, a forward from Florida Gulf Coast University, went 20th to the New York Red Bulls and Omar, a defensive midfielder from Notre Dame, was selected 23rd by the Colorado Rapids.
Expansion Charlotte FC, the league’s 28th team, used the first pick to take Maryland sophomore Ben Bender, the Big Ten Midfielder of the Year in 2021.
Toronto FC traded away its third overall pick on Monday.
CF Montreal, after trading down, took Utah Valley University winger Jojea Kwizera with the 15th overall pick. Vancouver then chose Saint Louis University forward Simon Becher with the 16th pick.
Kwizera, a native of the Democratic Republic of Congo who went to high school in Utah, played two seasons at USU Eastern in Price, Utah, before switching to Utah Valley. He had three goals and eight assists in 14 games last year.
Becher, a first team all-American and Atlantic 10 Conference Offensive Player of the Year, scored 21 goals and added 13 assists in 46 career games for Saint Louis University. He was the fourth member of the Billikens to go in the first round.
Oluwaseyi was the first Canadian taken with former Canadian international Mark Watson, Minnesota’s technical director, calling out his name in the virtual draft.
“He’s been a player we’ve targeted and known about for a while. He’s very gifted athletically and he’s got a ton of upside,” said Minnesota coach Adrian Heath.
The 21-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., has seen limited action since the 2019 season due to the pandemic and knee surgery. But in 2019 as a sophomore, Oluwaseyi became the first Red Storm player since 1996 to win Big East Offensive Player of the Year honours after scoring 11 goals and adding five assists. His 11 goals were the most by a St. John’s player since 2003.
The six-foot-two 170 pounder underwent surgery after dislocating his left kneecap last June while playing for Manhattan SC in USL League Two. He returned to action in the fall, but pulled the plug after two games to give the knee a little more time.
The Red Bulls traded to get Mullings, sending US$75,000 in general allocation money and a second-round pick (43rd overall) to Seattle to get the Toronto native.
Mullings, who led Florida Gulf Coast with seven goals last season, ranks second all-time in FGCU history with 28 goals and 63 points in 57 games.
Named Notre Dame’s co-captain last August, Omar played 69 games for the Fighting Irish, including 55 starts. He started 23 games last season, with four goals and one assist.
Prior to Notre Dame, the six-foot-three Toronto native played at Berkshire School in Massachusetts which also helped produce Toronto FC’s Jacob Shaffelburg and Ifunanyachi Achara. Omar also spent time with the Toronto FC academy, playing for Toronto FC III.
The first five picks of the virtual draft were all members of the Generation Adidas class – collegiate underclassmen signed by the league whose salaries will not count against their team’s salary cap budget.
Recent Canadian Generation Adidas players include Tajon Buchanan (taken ninth in the 2019 draft) and Richie Laryea (seventh, 2016). Both have now left their MLS clubs for Europe with Buchanan at Belgium’s Club Brugge and Laryea at England’s Nottingham Forest.
Bender is the 50th Maryland player taken in the history of the MLS SuperDraft – and the third to go first overall following Maurice Edu (taken by Toronto FC in 2007) and Leo Cullen (1998).
The first-team all-American had seven goals and five assists in 18 games last season for the Terrapins.
FC Cincinnati, which gave up a league-worst 74 goals last season, used the second pick on Indiana junior goalkeeper Roman Celentano. The six-foot-three Hoosier is the first player in Big Ten history to win the conference’s Goalkeeper of the Year award multiple times (2020-21 and 2021).
FC Dallas, with the third overall pick acquired from Toronto, took Saint Louis University freshman winger Isaiah Parker who was named to the Atlantic 10 All-Rookie team in 2021.
Toronto traded the pick Monday in a salary dump that sent veteran forward Dom Dwyer and the draft pick for $50,000 in general allocation money. Dallas promptly bought out Dwyer’s contract and waived him.
Canadian Pat Onstad, the new GM of the Houston Dynamo, took Duke sophomore forward Thor Ulfarsson with the fourth pick. The native of Iceland was the 2021 ACC Offensive Player of the Year with 15 goals.
Austin FC completed the top five by selecting Saint Louis University centre back Kipp Keller, the 2021 Atlantic 10 Conference Defensive Player of the Year.
CF Montreal traded down in a three-way deal with the New York Red Bulls and Chicago Fire.
The trade saw Montreal drop to No. 15 from No. 11 while gaining $100,000 in general allocation money from the Red Bulls. New York then sent the 11th pick and $100,000 in GAM to Chicago, using the Fire’s seventh overall pick to select six-foot-eight defender Matthew Nocita from the U.S. Naval Academy.
The three remaining Generation Adidas players went before the 20th pick: Stanford junior forward Ousseni Bouda (San Jose, eighth), Saint Louis University junior goalkeeper Patrick Schulte (Columbus, 12th) and University of the Pacific freshman defender Eric Centeno (Atlanta, 19th).
Toronto selected St. John’s goalkeeper Luka Gavran in the second round pick (31st overall). The 21-year-old from Hamilton, who stands between six foot five and six foot six, recorded 12 shutouts and posted an 0.57 goals-against average in 20 games last season.
Vancouver used the first of two second-round picks on Clemson midfielder Luis Felipe Fernandez-Salvador (44th overall). Two picks later, Orlando City took Marshall defender Nathan Dossantos, from Oakville, Ont.
The Whitecaps then used the 49th overall pick, obtained earlier in a deal with Nashville, to take Cal State-Northridge midfielder Giovanni Aguilar, a Big West first-team All-Conference selection.
Toronto used its third-round pick (59th overall) to take Canadian forward Reshaun Walkes from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. A native of Brampton, Ont., Walkes had nine goals and sevens assists in 17 games last season.
In the third round, Vancouver took North Carolina Greensboro’s French forward Theo Collomb (72nd overall) and Marshall’s Brazilian midfielder Vitor Dias (85th overall). Collomb is coming off a 15-goal season.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 11, 2022
DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings signed forward Lucas Raymond to an eight-year, $64.6 million contract Monday, completing a deal with one of their best young players less than 72 hours before training camp begins.
Raymond will count $8.075 million against the salary cap through 2032. The 22-year-old was a restricted free agent without a contract for the upcoming NHL season and was coming off setting career highs with 31 goals, 41 assists and 72 points.
The Red Wings have another one of those in defenceman Moritz Seider, who won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 2021-22.
Detroit is looking to end an eight-year playoff drought dating to the Original Six franchise’s last appearance in 2016.
Raymond, a Swede who was the fourth pick in 2020, has 174 points in 238 games since breaking into the league.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kirk Cousins led a flawless last-minute drive for Atlanta and connected with Drake London for a 7-yard touchdown with 34 seconds left to give the Falcons a 22-21 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night.
Saquon Barkley dropped a short pass that stopped the clock with 1:46 left and forced the Eagles to settle for a field goal instead of a game-sealing first down. That was plenty of time for Cousins — especially against an Eagles defense playing soft coverage with a nonexistent pass rush.
The 36-year-old veteran, playing his second game since tearing his Achilles tendon last Oct. 29 while playing for Minnesota, shook off an uneven effort and hit Darnell Mooney for 21 and 26 yards on consecutive plays during the decisive drive.
Cousins found London on a short pass to his right for the tying score, and Younghoe Koo put Atlanta (1-1) on top with a 48-yard extra point after London was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. The go-ahead drive took just 65 seconds.
Jalen Hurts had his final pass intercepted by Jessie Bates III to seal Atlanta’s win and set off a wild celebration on the sideline.
The Eagles (1-1) went ahead on Hurts’ 1-yard tush push score with 6:47 left. Barkley finished with 95 yards on 22 carries in his home debut for Philadelphia, but his drop provided the Falcons with some hope.
And then Cousins started playing like the QB Atlanta thought it was getting when it signed him to a four-year, $180 million contract.
Cousins finished 20 of 29 for 241 yards and two touchdowns. Atlanta’s first TD was a 41-yarder from Cousins to Mooney, who finished with three catches for 88 yards.
Hurts was 23 of 30 for 183 yards, including a touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith. With No. 1 receiver A.J. Brown out with a hamstring injury, Smith led the Eagles with seven catches for 76 yards and a score.
Jake Elliott kicked two field goals for the Eagles. His 28-yarder with 1:39 left made it 21-15.
Atlanta kept stalling in the red zone, getting three field goals from Koo, before Cousins fired over the middle to Mooney, who shook loose from C.J. Gardner-Johnson and left him on the turf before he somersaulted into the end zone with 1:21 left in the third quarter for a 15-10 lead. Cousins failed on the 2-point conversion pass.
Hurts had some juice in his step during a second-quarter TD drive, running with abandon for big plays much like he did in the 2022 season. He spiked the ball in a rare, raw show of emotion on a 23-yard run, earning a delay-of-game penalty. He shrugged off the 5-yard setback and scrambled for 9 yards and 15 yards to move the Eagles to Atlanta’s 19.
With comedian Shane Gillis and actor Bradley Cooper among the fans cheering on the Eagles, Hurts connected with Smith in the back of the end zone for a 7-yard TD that made it 7-3.
Under new defensive coordinator Vince Fangio, the Eagles have established an early knack for allowing long drives that end with three points instead of seven. Koo kicked field goals of 39, 22 and 34 yards, the last one enough for a 9-7 lead in the third quarter. In their opener, the Eagles held the Packers to just three field goals when they drove inside the 20.
Questionable call
Rather than take a chip-shot field goal from Elliott, the Eagles’ fourth-and-4 gamble at Atlanta’s 9-yard line in the first quarter failed when Hurts threw an incomplete pass.
Elliott kicked a 29-yarder with 4:31 left in the third quarter for a 10-9 lead.
Running wild
Bijan Robinson ran for 97 yards for the Falcons. The Eagles stuffed him late on fourth-and-1 at the Atlanta 39.
Barkley was quiet until the go-ahead drive, a week after he rushed for 109 yards and scored three touchdowns against Green Bay. Eagles fans booed when the opening drive of the game ended without Barkley touching the ball. They went wild when he had consecutive 9-yard runs to open the second drive. Barkley had 40 yards rushing in the first half.
Foles honored
Former Eagles QB Nick Foles, who led the franchise to its only Super Bowl title, served as an honorary captain and led the crowd in a rendition of “Fly, Eagles, Fly.”
Injuries
The Falcons played without LB Nate Landman (calf, quad).
Up next
Atlanta hosts Super Bowl champion Kansas City on Sunday.
TORONTO – Singles star Leylah Fernandez and doubles specialist Gabriela Dabrowski will anchor Canada’s five-player lineup when the team tries to defend its Billie Jean King Cup title in mid-November.
The 26th-ranked Fernandez, the 2021 U.S. Open finalist from Laval, Que., is the lone Canadian in the top 100 of the WTA Tour’s singles rankings.
Dabrowski, from Ottawa, is ranked fourth on the doubles list. The 2023 U.S. Open women’s doubles champion won mixed doubles bronze with Felix Auger-Aliassime at the recent Paris Olympics.
Marina Stakusic of Mississauga, Ont., returns after a breakout performance last year, capped by her singles win in Canada’s 2-0 victory over Italy in the final. Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino is also back and Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion from Mississauga, Ont., returns to the squad for the first time since 2022.
“Winning the Billie Jean King Cup in 2023 was a dream come true for us, and not only that, but I feel like we made a statement to the world about the strength of this nation when it comes to tennis,” Canada captain Heidi El Tabakh said Monday in a release. “Once again, we have a very strong team this year with Bianca joining Leylah, Gaby, Rebecca and Marina, making it an extremely powerful team that is more than capable of going all the way.
“At the end of the day, our goal is to make Canada proud, and we’ll do our best to bring the same level of effort and excitement that we had in last year’s finals.”
Fernandez, who beat Jasmine Paolini to clinch Canada’s first-ever title at the competition, is ranked No. 42 in doubles.
Canada, which received an automatic berth as defending champion, will play the winner of the first-round tie between Great Britain and Germany on Nov. 17 at Malaga’s Martin Carpena Arena.
Australia, Italy and wild-card entry Czechia also received first-round byes. The tournament, which continues through Nov. 20, also includes host Spain, Slovakia, the United States, Poland, Japan and Romania.
Stakusic is up 27 spots to No. 128 in the latest world singles rankings. Marino is at No. 134 and Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, is ranked 167th.
Canada will look to become the first team since Czechia in 2016 to successfully defend its Billie Jean King Cup title.
Malaga will also host the Nov. 19-24 Davis Cup Final 8. The Canadian men qualified over the weekend with a 2-1 victory over Great Britain in Manchester.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
