William and Mary men’s soccer standouts Roshan Patel and Will Smith are two of 267 players remaining on the Major League Soccer SuperDraft list heading into the final two rounds Tuesday.
The SuperDraft is unique in that MLS clubs are required to submit names of players they are potentially interested in selecting during the four-round draft. That group of players are then the only ones eligible to be drafted.
Both four-year starters, Patel and Smith were co-captains and stalwarts on a defensive unit that keyed the Tribe’s historic 2013 campaign in which they defeated two No. 1 opponents and one other ranked in the top 25 during a nine-day span and finished the season 11-5-3 before losing in penalty kicks to George Mason in the opening round of the NCAA tournament.
Tribe head coach Chris Norris said both player’s leadership was “critical” to his team’s success this season and believes both possess qualities that would make them viable assets at the professional level.
He labeled Smith, a center-back who was named one of the Top 100 players in the country by TopDrawerSoccer.com, as a great 1-on-1 defender and header of the ball and characterized Patel as a technical player and exceptional ball striker capable of scoring from the left-back position.
The last William and Mary men’s soccer player taken in the MLS SuperDraft was 2011 graduate Alan Koger, who was taken in the third round of the 2011 draft by the New England Revolution.
“If I were a [MLS] coach I would take a chance on both of them,” Norris said.
Final Relay Shoots W&M Women’s Swimming Past Richmond, 151-143
The William and Mary women’s swimming team had every possible excuse if they lost to Richmond Sunday — training trip last week, swimming a rival on the road on Senior Day, a tough meet against Davidson just a day before, 32 point-handicap due to diving. None of those was needed, as the Tribe powered past the Spiders on the final relay to claim a 151-143 win, the first for W&M against their ancient rivals since 2009-10.
W&M Men Swimming Torpedo Davidson, 169-93
The William and Mary men’s swimming team churned through more than 55,000 yards of practice laps in the last week, but showed no signs of fatigue in sprinting past Davidson 169-93 on Saturday. With the win, the Tribe’s impressive season continued at 6-1, while the Wildcats fell to 1-4 on the year.
Women’s Tennis Sweeps Saturday Doubleheader with Wins over ECU and JMU
The William and Mary women’s tennis team swept a doubleheader at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis on Saturday afternoon, downing East Carolina, 7-0, and CAA counterpart James Madison, 6-1.
Tribe Men’s Gymnastics Places Second at West Point
Led by two-time NCAA All-American Landon Funiciello, who broke his own school record on rings for the second-consecutive week with a 15.95. The William and Mary men’s gymnastics team placed second at the West Point Open hosted by Army on Friday evening.
Men & Women Track and Field Set Records at Virginia Tech
The William and Mary men’s track and field team set collegiate-bests in nine of 11 performances Friday night at the Virginia Tech Invitational. Three of those performances marked new entries into the school record books, including the second freshman record of the young season. Click here for complete results.
On the women’s side, sophomore Rochelle Evans chalked up her first school record with a monster shot put effort of 14.68 meters (48-2) to place third overall. A personal best by almost a foot-and-half over her effort from CNU in December, Evans’ mark broke the Tribe record of 14.38m (47-2.25), set by Ayanna Jones at the 2004 ECAC Championships. Click here for futher details.
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