David Greczek Selected In Third Round By Sporting KC
Jan 17 | Men's Soccer
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - All-time Rutgers men's soccer save leader David Greczek was selected with the 14th pick in the third round of the 2017 MLS SuperDraft by Sporting KC on Tuesday. Greczek becomes the 19th Scarlet Knight taken in a MLS Draft.
"David has stood on his head for our program and kept us in games and won games for us," said head coach Dan Donigan. "He has really matured as a person and goalkeeper over the past couple of seasons and I can see him growing into a MLS starter in a few years, if not sooner. During the recruiting process, I watched him for 30 minutes and knew that he was someone who could make an immediate impact on our program. We made him an offer immediately because he made such a great impression and we know that he will continue to impress the staff with Sporting KC."
Greczek finished his career as Rutgers' all-time save leader having made 372 stops along with 16 career shutouts while "On the Banks." As a senior, he was the active Division I leader in career saves (372) and saves per game (4.96) and logged 101 stops to rank seventh on RU's single season saves leaders list. He recorded five or more saves in 11 of RU's 17 contests.
As a junior, the Fairfield, New Jersey native was a Second Team All-Big Ten selection helping the Scarlet Knights to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament and a top 25 ranking. During the 2015 campaign, he recorded eight shutouts, the most since 1998 by fellow MLS third round draft pick Jon Conway.
During his sophomore campaign, Greczek helped Rutgers transition into the Big Ten Conference, where he led the league in saves per game (4.71).
In his first season as a Scarlet Knight, Greczek earned Second Team All-American Athletic Conference and American Athletic Conference All-Rookie honors as he logged 108 stops, averaging 5.4 saves per game. His 108 stops as a freshman were the most since by a Rutgers netminder since 1994. "
I'm very proud of him and the work that his club coach Paul Reece, Coach Mike Romeo, and most recently Coach Tyler Stakiwicz, have done with him to grow his game," added Donigan. "We are proud to say we have another guy drafted into the MLS and we want to keep that tradition going."
Sporting KC is led by manager Peter Vermes, who played for the Scarlet Knights from 1985-87 and was runner-up for National Player of the Year while "On the Banks." He has served as Sporting Kansas City's manager since 2009, becoming the team's all-time winningest coach and the eighth winningest coach in MLS regular season history and led Sporting Kansas City to a club-record six straight playoff appearances since 2011.
RUTGERS IN THE MLS DRAFT
David Greczek -- Sporting KC -- 2017 SuperDraft -- Third Round - 58th Overall
Mitch Lurie -- Philadelphia Union -- 2016 SuperDraft -- Third Round -- 44th Overall
Mitchell Taintor -- Toronto FC -- 2016 SuperDraft -- Third Round -- 59th Overall
Kene Eze - Toronto FC - 2014 SuperDraft - Fourth Round - 60th overall
Yannick Salmon -- Chicago Fire -- 2011 Supplemental Draft -- Second Round - 27th overall
Dilly Duka -- Columbus Crew -- 2010 SuperDraft - First Round - 8th overall
Nick LaBrocca -- Colorado Rapides -- 2007 SuperDraft -- Third Round -- 35th overall
Chris Karcz -- Chicago Fire -- 2004 Supplemental Draft -- Third Round -- 27th overall
Josh Gros -- DC United -- 2004 SuperDraft - Third Round - 34th overall
Guy Abrahamson -- Columbus Crew -- 2003 SuperDraft - Fifth Round -- 47th overall
Dennis Ludwig -- DC United -- 2002 SuperDraft - Fourth Round -- 40th overall
Brian Piesner -- Dallas Burn -- 2000 SuperDraft -- Fourth Round -- 46th overall
Jon Conway -- San Jose Earthquakes -- 2000 SuperDraft- Third Round -- 28th overall
Billy Walsh -- NY/NJ MetroStars -- 1998 College Draft -- Second Round -- 16th overall
Alan Branigan -- Dallas Burn -- 1997 College Draft -- Second Round -- 16th overall
Hamisi Amani-Dove -- NY/NJ MetroStars -- 1996 College Draft -- Third Round -- 22nd overall
Jeff Zaun -- NY/NJ MetroStars -- 1996 Inaugural Draft -- Fourth Round -- 39th overall
Peter Vermes -- NY/NJ MetroStars -- 1996 Inaugural Draft - Third Round - 29th overall
Alexi Lalas -- New England Revolution -- 1996 MLS Inaugural Allocation
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