Six players with area ties have been invited to the MLS player combine next month.

Those players include University of Michigan defender Marcello Borges of Kearny, N.J., Columbia University goalkeeper Dylan Castenheira of Landing, N.J., Wake Forest University defender Logan Gdula of East Lyme, Conn., University of Connecticut Dylan Greenberg of Dix Hills, N.Y., Fordham University forward Janos Loebe and University of Notre Dame midfielder Tommy McCabe of South Orange, N.J.

They were among 60 college players invited to the combine. Top collegiate players from across the country will showcase their talents in front of representatives from all 24 MLS clubs in Orlando, Fla. from Jan. 3-9.

All invited players will be eligible for selection in the 2019 SuperDraft. which will take place at noon ET Friday, Jan. 11 in Chicago’s McCormick Place in conjunction with the United Soccer Coaches Convention.

A committee of MLS coaches and NCAA Division I coaches from every conference selected the invitees, all of whom completed their college eligibility this season. Further invitees including Generation adidas signings, non-collegiate players, and additional college seniors will be announced in the coming weeks.

One finalist and four additional semifinalists for the 2018 Men’s MAC Hermann Trophy headline this year’s list of initial invitees. University of Denver forward Andre Shinyashiki is one of three finalists for the MAC Hermann Trophy given to the top collegiate player every season. Joining Shinyashiki as semifinalists for the award are Air Force midfielder Tucker Bone, North Carolina defender Alex Comsia, Charlotte defender Callum Montgomery and Pacific midfielder Camden Riley.

The 2018 NCAA DiI champions University of Maryland send four standouts to the vombine — forward Sebastian Elney, midfielder Amar Sejdic and defenders Chase Gasper and Andrew Samuels.

Defender Abdi Mohammed and goalkeeper Ben Lundt will attend the combine from runner-up Akron, while semifinalist Michigan State is represented by forwards DeJuan Jones and Ryan Sierakowski and goalkeeper Jimmy Hague. Rounding out this year’s College Cup participants, Indiana University will send defender Rece Buckmaster. The lone representative from 2015-2017 NCAA champion Stanford University is forward Amir Bashti.

2019 adidas MLS Player Combine College Participants 
(Alphabetical by last name)
 

First Name
 
Last Name
 
School
 
Pos.
 
Hometown
 
Citizenship
 
Bio
 
Anderson
 
Asiedu
 
UCLA
 
MF
 
Dormaa Ahenkro, Ghana
 
Ghana
 
Bio
 
Louis
 
Barraza
 
Marquette University
 
GK
 
Santa Teresa, N.M.
 
USA
 
Bio
 
Amir
 
Bashti
 
Stanford University
 
FW
 
Cupertino, Calif.
 
USA
 
Bio
 
Jakov
 
Basic
 
Univ. of Massachusetts-Lowell
 
MF
 
Zagreb, Croatia
 
Croatia
 
Bio
 
Tucker
 
Bone
 
Air Force Academy
 
MF
 
Granite Bay, Calif.
 
USA
 
Bio
 
Marcello
 
Borges
 
University of Michigan
 
DF
 
Kearny, N.J.
 
USA
 
Bio
 
Sam
 
Brown
 
Harvard University
 
MF
 
Ann Arbor, Mich.
 
USA
 
Bio
 
Nils
 
Bruening
 
Univ. of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
 
FW
 
Hamsburg, Germany
 
Germany
 
Bio
 
Rece
 
Buckmaster
 
Indiana University
 
DF
 
Auburn, Ind.
 
USA
 
Bio
 
Pat
 
Bunk-Andersen
 
Clemson University
 
DF
 
Copenhagen, Denmark
 
Denmark
 
Bio
 
Mamadi
 
Camara
 
Simon Fraser University
 
FW
 
Montreal, Quebec
 
Canada
 
Bio
 
Dylan
 
Castenheira
 
Columbia University
 
GK
 
Landing, N.J.
 
USA
 
Bio
 
Kyle
 
Coffee
 
University of Washington
 
FW
 
Syracuse, Utah
 
USA
 
Bio
 
Alex
 
Comsia
 
Univ. of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
 
DF
 
North Vancouver, BC
 
Canada
 
Bio
 
Emil
 
Cuello
 
Southern Methodist University
 
MF
 
Orem, Utah
 
USA
 
Bio
 
Geoffrey
 
Dee
 
University of Louisville
 
MF
 
Germantown, Tenn.
 
USA
 
Bio
 
Hugo
 
Delhomeele
 
Syracuse University
 
MF
 
Rennes, France
 
France
 
Bio
 
Hassani
 
Dotson
 
Oregon State University
 
MF
 
Federal Way, Wash.
 
USA
 
Bio
 
Brad
 
Dunwell
 
Wake Forest University
 
MF
 
Grand Rapids, Mich.
 
USA
 
Bio
 
Sebastian
 
Elney
 
University of Maryland
 
FW
 
Boca Raton, Fla.
 
USA
 
Bio
 
Simon
 
Enstrom
 
Boston College
 
FW
 
Huddinge, Sweden
 
Sweden
 
Bio
 
Prosper
 
Figbe
 
University of Virginia
 
DF
 
Ilorin, Nigeria
 
Nigeria
 
Bio
 
Chase
 
Gasper
 
University of Maryland
 
DF
 
Alexandria, Va.
 
USA
 
Bio
 
Logan
 
Gdula
 
Wake Forest University
 
DF
 
East Lyme, Conn.
 
USA
 
Bio
 
Dylan
 
Greenberg
 
University of Connecticut
 
DF
 
Dix Hills, N.Y.
 
USA
 
Bio
 
Jimmy
 
Hague
 
Michigan State University
 
GK
 
Walled Lake, Mich.
 
USA
 
Bio
 
Jacob
 
Hauser-Ramsey
 
University of Connecticut
 
DF
 
Seattle, Wash.
 
USA
 
Bio
 
Lennart
 
Hein
 
Saint Louis University
 
DF
 
Hamburg, Germany
 
Germany
 
Bio
 
DeJuan
 
Jones
 
Michigan State University
 
FW
 
Lansing, Mich.
 
USA
 
Bio
 
Shinya
 
Kadono
 
University of California
 
FW
 
Irvine, Calif.
 
Japan/USA
 
Bio
 
Kervin
 
Kenton Fadel
 
Coastal Carolina University
 
DF
 
San Jose, Costa Rica
 
Costa Rica
 
Bio
 
Janos
 
Loebe
 
Fordham University
 
FW
 
Kierspe, Germany
 
Germany
 
Bio
 
Ben
 
Lundt
 
University of Akron
 
GK
 
Berlin, Germany
 
Germany
 
Bio
 
Abdu
 
Mbacke Thiam
 
University of Connecticut
 
FW
 
Dakar, Senegal
 
Senegal
 
Bio
 
Tommy
 
McCabe
 
University of Notre Dame
 
MF
 
South Orange, N.J.
 
USA
 
Bio
 
Brendan
 
McDonough
 
Georgetown University
 
DF
 
Matthews, N.C.
 
USA
 
Bio
 
Robbie
 
Mertz
 
University of Michigan
 
MF
 
Pittsburgh, Pa.
 
USA
 
Bio
 
Colin
 
Miller
 
Providence College
 
GK
 
Bel Air, Md.
 
USA
 
Bio
 
Kamal
 
Miller
 
Syracuse University
 
DF
 
Pickering, Ontario
 
Canada
 
Bio
 
Abdi
 
Mohammed
 
University of Akron
 
DF
 
Westerville, Ohio
 
USA
 
Bio
 
Callum
 
Montgomery
 
UNC Charlotte
 
DF
 
Victoria, BC
 
Canada
 
Bio
 
Rashid
 
Nuhu
 
Fordham University
 
GK
 
Accra, Ghana
 
Ghana
 
Bio
 
Mitchell
 
Osmand
 
University of Rio Grande
 
DF
 
Sydney, Australia
 
Australia
 
Bio
 
Santiago
 
Patino
 
Florida International University
 
FW
 
Orlando, Fla.
 
USA
 
Bio
 
Javi
 
Perez
 
University of Pittsburgh
 
MF
 
Valencia, Spain
 
Spain
 
Bio
 
Moshe
 
Perez
 
University of Denver
 
MF
 
Shim’a, Israel
 
Israel
 
Bio
 
Joey
 
Piatczyc
 
West Virginia University
 
MF
 
Lee’s Summit, Mo.
 
USA
 
Bio
 
James
 
Pyle
 
Univ. of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
 
GK
 
Charlotte, N.C.
 
USA
 
Bio
 
Camden
 
Riley
 
University of the Pacific
 
MF
 
Dallas, Texas
 
USA
 
Bio
 
Sergio
 
Rivas
 
Seattle University
 
MF
 
Albuquerque, N.M.
 
USA
 
Bio
 
Joel
 
Rydstrand
 
Creighton University
 
MF
 
Almunge, Sweden
 
Sweden
 
Bio
 
Andrew
 
Samuels
 
University of Maryland
 
DF
 
Tampa, Fla.
 
USA
 
Bio
 
Amar
 
Sejdic
 
University of Maryland
 
MF
 
Louisville, Ky.
 
USA
 
Bio
 
Andre
 
Shinyashiki
 
University of Denver
 
FW
 
Sao Paulo, Brazil
 
Brazil
 
Bio
 
Ryan
 
Sierakowski
 
Michigan State University
 
FW
 
McHenry, Ill.
 
USA
 
Bio
 
Harry
 
Swartz
 
Northeastern University
 
FW
 
Needham, Mass.
 
USA
 
Bio
 
Don
 
Tchilao
 
Oregon State University
 
FW
 
Chandler, Ariz.
 
Benin
 
Bio
 
Thomas
 
Ueland
 
University of Notre Dame
 
FW
 
Lexington, Ky.
 
USA
 
Bio
 
Wouter
 
Verstraaten
 
University of the Pacific
 
DF
 
Heeze, Netherlands
 
Netherlands
 
Bio
 
Akeem
 
Ward
 
Creighton University
 
DF
 
Vienna, Va.
 
USA
 
Bio
 

 

 

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.