Sporting Kansas City of MLS Earns Rights to Saad
7/5/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
July 5, 2011
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- University of Michigan men's soccer All-American Soony Saad (Dearborn, Mich./Dearborn) will start his Major League Soccer (MLS) career with Sporting Kansas City after the club earned his rights in a four-team lottery held today (Tuesday, July 5) in MLS Headquarters in New York, N.Y.
"He's a player that our staff has seen in college several times, and we were very interested in him," Sporting Kansas City manager Peter Vermes said via the squad's website. "We feel this is a good young addition for our team."
"I'm really excited that I got picked up by Sporting Kansas City," Saad said via Sporting Kansas City website. "It's in the Midwest where I'm from and with the team's brand new stadium, I couldn't have hoped for anything better. This is a dream come true for the next step in my professional career."
"Soony was a dominant scorer in the college game last season and worthy of his accolades," said U-M head coach Steve Burns. "Sporting KC has a great record of developing young talent and picked up a player that is going to help them for years to come."
Saad signed with MLS last week and was entered into a weighted lottery, the mechanism by which MLS assigns players signed under special circumstances after the annual SuperDraft. The four teams that were in the lottery -- Sporting Kansas City, Chivas USA, Chicago, and Portland -- earned the right to have a chance at Saad by winning percentage over its last 34 regular-season games. Sporting Kansas City pulled a minor upset as it had a 21.2 percent chance at Saad. Chivas USA had the best chance (45.9 percent), followed by Chicago (32.3 percent) and Portland (0.6 percent).
Saad had a stellar season in his freshman campaign with the Wolverines. An All-America second-team selection by the NSCAA, Saad set U-M single-season records in goals (19), points (43) and shots (152) in 2010. The 19 goals were second in the country and led all freshmen, and Saad was the only freshman to be ranked in the top five nationally in points and goals. The forward from Dearborn, Mich., helped Michigan to a College Cup appearance, 17 wins and a Big Ten Tournament title while being named National Rookie of the Year by TopDrawerSoccer.com. The Big Ten Freshman of the Year also was the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Tournament and an NSCAA All-Great Lakes Region first team performer. Saad became the seventh player in program history to record a hat trick in a win over Kentucky on Sept. 22. He also had game-winning goals against Michigan State (first round) and Wisconsin (semifinals) in the Big Ten Tournament and scored the game-winning tally in the 3-1 win over South Carolina in the NCAA Championship third round.
Saad becomes Michigan's fifth overall and fourth active to wear an MLS uniform. Fellow 2010 teammate Justin Meram (Shelby Twp., Mich./Eisenhower) currently is playing for Columbus and has a pair of assists in six games. Michael Holody (Colorado) and Peri Marosevic (FC Dallas) also are on MLS rosters, while Knox Cameron (Columbus) played in the MLS from 2005-06.
Sporting Kansas City currently is in a tie for fourth place in the MLS' Eastern Conference with 20 points. The club hosts Colorado this Wednesday (July 6) at the brand new LIVESTRONG Sporting Park in Kansas City.
