I’ve been a bit slow on the trigger on this one but an LA story brought me back to my senses! In a story talking about the roster moves Major Soccer League teams needed to make in advance of yesterday’s deadline for naming their 18 man rosters, DailyBreeze.com highlights the LA Galaxy and Chivas USA:
In contrast, Chivas USA had no such problems, naming 17 senior players to their roster without having to make any cuts. With MLS openers slated for month’s end, at this point the Western Conference champions have only slightly tweaked last year’s squad.Helping shore up a defense that lost Jason Hernandez in the expansion draft to the San Jose Earthquakes are Swiss international Raphael Wicky and former Chicago Fire journeyman defender Jim Curtin. Providing depth in attack is Atiba Harris, who arrived in a trade with Real Salt Lake and striker Alecko Eskandarian (currently out with a groin strain), seeking to revive a once-promising career that stalled in Toronto. The 18th slot will presumably be filled by a goalkeeper, since the club only has starter Brad Guzan listed on the roster.
The team took two others along when it left today for a three-game preseason tournament in San Antonio that begins Wednesday: Lance Parker out of Missouri State and Cal State Fullerton product Sam Reynolds, a perennial backup signed by the league who is loaned out to various clubs as the need arises.
Lance’s opportunity came as a direct result of his efforts last summer playing for the Colorado Rapids U23 Reserve team in the Professional Development League (PDL). His coach last year has a relationship with Chivas and when they needed a goalkeeper in camp, he pointed them to Lance. He’s been on-site for more than two weeks now and you have to like his chances of sticking.
This is the team that is coached by one of my all-time favorites, Preki, and includes former Fire players Ante Razov, Jesse Marsch and now Jim Curtin.
2 Comments
This is a well deserved opportunity for Lance. I had the opportunity to watch him play the last 2 years and his skill, with help from the rest of the defense, frequently was what kept the Bears in the game when their offense was struggling.
Lance Parker played for my high school team, Putnam City North High Schoo, and he is, by far, one of the best athletes I have ever been around. High motivated, sound moral compas, incredible work ethic, are just a few of the tremendous personal values he possess. Here at PCN we are proud of him and he represents the nest in scholastic, collegiate and professional athletics.
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