Real Salt Lake has announced the 28 potential senior roster players who will attend training camp, starting on Tuesday in Bradenton, Fla. Some players are going from one tryout to another, but they don’t mind. Their mission: a spot on the 18-man senior roster.
Included among the camp invitees is one player from last week’s tryout camp at BYU’s indoor practice facility. Five-foot-8 midfielder Kevin Novak played collegiate soccer at Loyola Marymount, garnering All-American status. He apparently did just enough to impress the coaching staff, and will head to Florida in a familiar role: on a tryout basis.
Novak may have been on MLS teams’ radar screens a year ago, according to Real general manager Steve Pastorino- if not for a knee injury during his senior year at Loyola. “He’s the one player that we extended an invitation to [from the tryout camp],” Pastorino said. Pastorino added that while Novak was far shorter in stature than the other tryout-camp hopefuls, he was the one player who stood out.
“[Novak] made a distinct impression on Coach Ellinger…he has good composure and is a good middle-of-the-field player,” Pastorino said.
Among the senior roster hopefuls from Utah is 6-foot-1 midfielder Joey Worthen, a Cottonwood High School product, former Parade High School All-American and most recently a member of the Richmond Kickers of the A-League (United Soccer Leagues). Real has had Worthen on its radar since October, Pastorino said.
“We’re aware that he was the best player to have come of the Utah youth soccer system,” Pastorino said. Real assistant Chris Agnello said Worthen has as good a shot as anybody to make the final roster. “He is a very good player and has a good chance,” Agnello said.
Agnello said Real is also “seriously looking at” midfielder Sergio Flores of Smithfield, another Utahn on the US U-20s and formerly of Chacarita Juniors in Argentina. Flores is not at the camp on a tryout basis, however.
Other invitees on a tryout basis at camp are Rich Cullen, a goalkeeper for the Seattle Sounders of the USL’s A-League; Kenny Cutler, a goalie on the US Under-20 national team; and Leighton O’Brien, a midfielder from Washington State who recently played with Bodens in the Swedish Second Division.
For other tryout camp hopefuls, the supplemental draft date will be announced soon, Pastorino said. The camp will begin in Bradenton, Fla. from Feb. 1-19, where Real will hold scrimmages versus several MLS teams and the US Under-17 national team before heading to Portugal Feb. 24-March 9.
The camp will reconvene in the US from March 14-27 in California. The team’s season opener is on April 2 at the New York/New Jersey MetroStars.
Real Salt Lake Preseason Roster
Player* Pos. Ht. Wt. Nelson Akwari DF 6-0 180 Kevin Ara MF 6-2 170 Matt Behncke DF 6-3 190 Nikolas Besagno MF 6-0 175 Pablo Brenes MF 5-9 132 Chris Brown M/F 5-11 170 D.J. Countess GK 6-1 185 Rich Cullen GK 6-1 195 Kenny Cutler MF 5-9 140 Brian Dunseth DF 6-1 180 Sergio Flores FW 5-11 168 Senad Halilovic DF 6-5 205 Bryan Jackson MF 5-9 160 Brian Kamler MF 6-1 180 Luke Kreamalmeyer MF 5-9 Jason Kreis FW 5-10 155 Clint Mathis FW 5-10 170 Jay Nolly GK 6-3 210 Kevin Novak MF 5-8 150 Leighton O’Brien MF 5-10 160 Rusty Pierce DF 5-10 165 Marlon Rojas D/M 5-10 170 Dipsy Selolwane FW 5-9 150 Jeff Stewart DF 5-11 165 Jamie Watson FW 5-9 150 Evan Whitfield MF 5-11 155 Andy Williams MF 5-8 155 Joey Worthen MF 6-1 185 *Camp invitees in bold