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Union add defensive depth in Supplemental Draft

As was anticipated, the Philadelphia Union added some defensive depth and size with their Supplemental Draft picks.

They also selected players with local connections.

In the first round, the Union had the 12th and 17th picks. At No. 12 they selected Yardley, Pa. native Eric Schoenle, the 6′ 2″ central defender from the University of West Virginia—where he was a teammate of Raymon Gaddis— who was expected by many observers to have been selected in the SuperDraft.

At No. 17 the Union selected another defender, 6′ 2″ Uriah Bentick from Liberty University. Bentick, 23-years-old, was part of a backline which allowed only 0.95 goals per game in 2012 and helped record a Big South-leading nine shutouts. Bentick is also a Trinidad & Tobago youth international.

In the second round, the Union selected Mark Linville, a 6′ 1″ central defender from Princeton University. He finished his senior year at Princeton as captain and only the eighth player in Ivy League history to earn first-team All-Ivy honors in each of his four years in college. Linville is the third Princeton player to have been drafted by the Union after Antoine Hoppenot and Josh Walburn.

In the third round, the Union switched gears, selecting forward Jake Keegan from Binghamton University. He scored 11 goals for the Bearcats in his senior season in 2012.

In the fourth round, Leo Fernandes, the 6′ 1″ midfielder from Stony Brook and Reading United alumni, was selected with the 62nd pick overall. Named the America East Midfielder of the Year three years in a row, Fernandes was named 2012’s Big Apple Soccer College Player of the Year.

Eric Schoenle

Position: Defender
Age: 21
Height: 6-2
Weight: 147
Hometown: Yardley, Pa.
School: West Virginia

Uriah Bentick
Position: Defender
Age: 23
Height: 6-2
Weight: 187
Hometown: Port of Spain, Trinidad
School: Liberty University

Mark Linnville
Position: Defender
Age: 21
Height: 6-1
Weight: 170
Hometown: Boone, N.C.
School: Princeton

Jake Keegan
Position: Forward
Age: 21
Height: 5-9
Weight: 150
Hometown: Stormville, N.Y.
School: Binghamton

Leo Fernandes
Position: Midfielder
Age: 21
Height: 6-1
Weight: 165
Hometown: North Babylon, N.Y.
School: Stony Brook

13 Comments

  1. Why is the supplemental draft held so late? I figured they would want to pick players earlier so they could have them in camp.

  2. I know depth is good and people think having a lot of players to choose from is a good problem to have. Is it? it’s equally important to trim the fat cause it makes things more complicated. In this case it’s cool to get a lot of central defenders but hopefully we wont actually sign all of them. Having too many players can cause you to not utilize good players you already have thus stunting their growth. Like hoffman gaddis and hoppenot need playing time to really grow. Not just training. it gets messy when u have like a million forwards. It definitely makes sense to trial a lot of players and pick the best. But if hack signs too many guys it’ll get confusing. Too many options can be a bad thing. They really need to structure the depth chart and not overlook anyone we already have.

  3. Do we think that the Union should pick up another goalkeeper? Just in case? I think we might need a 3rd on the roster……thoughts?

  4. From watching the highlights of Schoenle, the comparison to Eric Brunner is pretty accurate. And if that’s the case, he’s worthy of a roster spot as he’ll be good cover for our three centerbacks. Nice pick.

    • Real nice player. I’m from the Reading area and have followed Reading United closely for the past 5 or 6 years, and anyone who gets consistent time on the team is worthy of a look. C.J. Sapong, Matt Hedges, Andrew Wenger and Ray Gaddis just to name a few. Brendan Burke does an unbelievable job recruiting and finding the best talent to bring in. He and the affiliation with Reading are as vital a resource to the Union as anything else.

  5. Would love to see a writeup of our draftees and trialists (10 altogether!) with their chances of making the roster (as well as whose spots they’re going to threaten–Greg Jordan we hardly knew ye). Further, does the new USL/Reserve scheme give MLS teams flexibility to carry more players?

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