Haefner drafted by Columbus Crew

While much of Penn was focusing on other sports this past weekend, the men's soccer team was celebrating a historic moment for the program.

Senior goalkeeper Matt Haefner became the Quakers' first-ever representative in Major League Soccer, the sport's top division in the United States. He will join the Columbus Crew, who selected the Amherst, N.Y., native in the sixth round of the 2004 MLS SuperDraft last Friday in Charlotte, N.C.

"It's sweet, it's a good situation," Haefner said. "It's a great team, great players on the team."

Penn coach Rudy Fuller also expressed his pleasure with the news and did not hesitate to look ahead to the 2002 Ivy League Player of the Year's future in the professional game.

"I think it's obviously great for Matt -- it's something that he's worked very hard to accomplish," Fuller said. "But as I've said on so many occasions about him, the best is yet to come. He has a tremendous upside and he's still improving as a goalkeeper."

Although the Ohio capital's team may lack the big-city luster of New York and Chicago, whose teams are coached by former Ivy Leaguers -- Bob Bradley (Princeton) and Dave Sarachan (Cornell) respectively -- or Washington and Los Angeles, two of the league's standard-bearers since its inception, the Crew are widely regarded as one of the best-run franchises in MLS.

Columbus was the first team in league history to have its own stadium, a 22,500-seat facility which has quickly become a true home not just for the Crew.

The team has drawn on average more than 15,000 fans per game in not only each of the last five seasons, but for the U.S. national teams as well. The men played World Cup qualifiers there in 2000 and 2001 to sellout crowds, and the 2003 women's World Cup saw another full house there when the United States played North Korea.

The Crew also have their own training facility in nearby Obetz, Ohio.

"It's better to step into that, even more top-notch," Haefner said. "I'm definitely excited about that."

Neither Crew General Manager Jim Smith nor head coach Greg Andrulis could be reached for comment, but Andrulis did say on the team's official web site that "Matt is a huge guy with great presence. He also has good quickness for a big guy who will be able to come into camp and compete for a roster spot."

Haefner's chances of getting that roster spot increased considerably last week when the Crew's regular starting goalkeeper, Tom Presthus, retired from the league after having surgery to repair torn elbow ligaments.

Jon Busch, Presthus' backup last season, will top the depth charts this year, but the second spot will be up for grabs between Haefner and North Carolina graduate Michael Ueltschey.

"I would expect Matt to jump in there with their two other keepers and see where he stands," Fuller said.

Haefner will not be the only Ancient Eight alumnus coming to Columbus this year, as he will be joined by Brown forward and 2003 Ivy League Player of the Year Adom Crew.

Said Haefner of Crew: "He's definitely a good player and he's going to do well at that level too. It's good to be with a fellow Ivy Leaguer."

Haefner is part of a defensive overhaul in Columbus. The Crew also drafted Stanford defender and U.S. under-20 National Team member Chad Marshall, as well as St. John's defender and winner of the 2003 Hermann Trophy -- college soccer's equivalent of the Heisman Trophy -- Chris Wingert, and traded for former U.S. National Team defender Robin Fraser.

Southwest Missouri State forward Jamal Sutton and Seton Hall midfielder Luke Vercollone were Columbus' other draft selections.

Three other ex-Ivy players are headed to the MLS this year. Harvard midfielder Kevin Ara will join 14-year old phenom Freddy Adu with D.C. United, Yale midfielder Jay Alberts will play for the Kansas City Wizards, and Cornell midfielder Ian Pilarski was selected by the Chicago Fire.

Although the Big Red link between Pilarski and Sarachan was only part of the high number of MLS draftees from the Ancient Eight, Fuller dismissed the notion that players from Ivy schools can only make it to the MLS because of former Ivy coaches.

"I don't think that coaches are making selections in the MLS draft based on former conference affiliations," Fuller said. "They are going to take the best available player."

For his part, Haefner thinks that if this year's class performs well, there will be more to come from the Ancient Eight in future years.

"Hopefully we can represent the league now and make a little noise for the Ivy League."

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