Kellyn Acosta Signed as 60th Pick

Angel Town is excited with the addition of Kellyn Acosta, who was available in the 5th round 60th pick overall. His offseason move to LAFC should give him an added jolt, and hopefully see his production benefit as well. 

Looking Forward to Seeing More From Rubin

Angel Town is pleased to be signing Rubio Rubin as a Designated Player. He's not a flashy name like so many players protected in the league, but he a delight to watch, and still produced very nice numbers in 2021.

Seraphim Acquire Two More Draft Picks

Angel Town completed a trade today sending the very talented Albert Rusnak to Alamo City in exchange for a 2nd and 5th round pick. Albert is a very good player, but roster decisions have to be made, and only 3 designated player slots are available in total. The club cannot protect everyone.

Vela Confirmed

With confirmation of his return, Carlos Vela has been signed to another Designated Player contract.

Lod and Araujo Announcements

Angel Town made a couple of player moves on Thursday. First, the club finalized a trade with Gateway United sending Quintero in exchange for Robin Lod. He is a player we enjoy watching, and will be a welcomed addition to the roster. Lod will be signed as a ReEntry Player. In other news Angel Town has signed Luis Araujo to a Designated Player contract. He is the 2nd DP announced by the Wings.

Rusnak - ReEntry Player

Albert Rusnak has been picked up in a trade with New West United. He had a down year in 2020, but who didn't, so look for him to rebound in 2021.

Heber Dos Santos - Designated Player 3

He produces, and will be back after his ACL tear last season. Heber will be a DP for Angel Town.

Anton Tinnerholm - Retention Player

He was simply awesome after being added to the club. He deserves to stay onboard. Some Defenders don't get enough love in this league. 

Diego Rossi - Designated Player 2

He better not leave the league. Rossi will be a DP for Angel Town.

Filling In Nicely

Samuel drafted in the 4th round.

It's that time of year again. Draft week in the BSL and the league's flagship is feeling pretty good about its early picks. Let's start with Maurice Edu who is on a one-year loan from Stoke City of the English Premier League. The deal includes an option to buy. As a US International with experience playing against some of the best competition in the world, Maurice adds a wealth of knowledge, skill and leadership while still being in his prime. 

Obtaining a 2nd round pick from Gateway United, the opportunity presented itself to sign Luke Moore, who spent his youth and development at Premier League side Aston Villa. He also played with West Bromwich Albion and Swansea City before continuing his playing career in Turkey. 

Also in Round 2 Union SC selected Marco Pappa, a five-year veteran of MLS, who will likely take over the playmaker role that Rosales made his own in three years in Seattle. 

In Round 3 Union SC selected Darren Mattocks who hasn’t touted a 20-goal target for this season, so in that sense, he’s already having a better training camp. With Camilo gone in Vancouver, someone will need to step it up and that could be Mattocks. 

Finally, There are expectations aplenty being placed on the shoulders of new LA Galaxy forward Samuel, but that means zilch to the team’s newest Brazilian. His only focus is scoring goals and lots of them for the Galaxy. The Galaxy acquired the 22-year-old native of São Borja, Brazil early last month on a year-long loan from Brazilian giants Fluminense despite interest domestically and in Europe During his two years with the Fluzão, the center forward scored 15 goals in 72 outings—a tally that he hopes to add to during his time with the Galaxy.  

3 Spots Filled

Preparations for the 2013 season are well under way for Union Southern California. The first match is only 9 days away. The Blues inked three players today. Let's start with Steve Zakuani. The talented forward is finally match fit after an injury that voided out 2012 for him. The goals will have to come from somewhere in Seattle, and the belief is Zakuani will be that go-to guy. Next, Jerry Bengtson is young and full of promise and is expected to get lots of minutes in 2013. He takes lots of shots. Hopefully a large amount of them go in the net. Lastly, Joel Lindpere is an iron man. The soccer smart player should hopefully add some depth to the Blues offense this season.

Positive Outlook Heading into Opener

The final draft selection for the Blues in the 2012 BSL Draft saw the club pick up Jamie Smith. What his roll will be is still undetermined. "The draft is just the beginning. Championships are not won by the draft alone. The free agent market is always huge during the course of the season. Plenty of players always underachieve and replacing them will be the unexpected treasures no one could have predicted." said the Union SC owner. In the meantime the club feels it can get off to a good start in the first weeks with the lineup it has at the moment and looks forward to a good showing against Stoners FC in week one. A preseason game may be scheduled before week 1. It is still under consideration.

Buddle in Union SC Blue!

Union Southern California held a press conference on Saturday to announce the club's 1st overall pick in the 2012 BSL draft. "As the flagship club of the league, we felt we could make a splash with the announcement and do it on Saturday" said the Blues owner. The decision to pick Edson Buddle was an easy one. He is a fan favorite in the Southern California region. Before he left oversea's, a decision that did not sit well in the community, Buddle led the old St. Louis Cure of the BSL to the 2010 Honors Trophy. "He was simply incredible in 2010" The Blues are hopefully he will be just as productive this season and bring back the BSL Cup to this team.

Wondo and the Draft

Chris Wondolowski will be the only Designated Player for Union SC in 2012. The club has decided to focus on the draft to fix the issues that plagued the club last season. In addition to having the #1 pick in the draft, the Blues now have obtained another 2nd round pick taking the slot from the CD Gunners.

Staying the Course

Is it really always necessary to reinvent the wheel. Helping the Blues win the championship was Nate Jaqua and Justin Mapp. Infact Mapp played a huge roll with some key points down the stretch. Jaqua was a funny story, he loved to score when benched, but then would blank when given the opportunity to start. Hopefully he will not follow that trait in 2011. Union SC now has 6 players returning from its championship lineup. "Call it loyalty, call it living in the past, call it what you want. If the results are the same it won't matter" said the Blues owner. There are some new additions to the club, J.Padilla and O.Alonso both were signed in the hopes they can fill the voids left by some key departures.

Solid Selections is Always the Approach

Admittingly he was not the first choice to draft in the first round, but when the opportunity presented itself, Brek Shea was on top of the list. "So many times big names are taken early and the young guns are the true gems." said the Blues owner. This is the sentiment on how the club feels about the addition of Shea. He already has some recognition from last season, but he should be even better with the added maturity. By no means a sure thing, the concensus is Shea should be no worse than a decent contributor to the line-up.

This also holds true for Davey Arnaud. He returns to the club after helping bring in a championship. "Arnaud comes through in bits and peices and that is why Union SC likes to keep him on the roster" said the owner. While some might consider the organization to be playing it conservative so far in the draft process, the truth is the orgainzation has always evaluated talent this way. The only difference is now the club has to try and defend the BSL Cup. "I am not immune to the fact that my biggest rival is gearing up with star power players like Beckham and Cooper and that other rivals have made big selections. But this is the strategy that works. I got a star above the crest to prove it" smiled the Blues owner.

After Tense Moments, DeRo is Staying

It was tense for a few weeks to find one of the players that Union SC went through all the trouble to try and protect trialing overseas with Celtic. "It was a major concern. Without DeRo the 3rd slot would have been frutile. The whole reason for the initial trade was with DeRo in the picture. It's nice that it all worked out." said the Blues owner. Now the club can focus on the upcoming draft and put the drama to bed.
An Early Saints Showdown!
The season opener for the Blues will be against Gateway United. Even though the Saints roster is not yet filled for 2011, the odds of the club boasting a strong opposing lineup are very strong. "The owner over there has earned a lot of respect over here. No doubt its going to be a tough opener." This will be the 7th meeting against Gateway United and Union SC has only managed to grab 3 points once.

High Expectations for Casey in 2011

Not Going Anywhere

Union SC is ready to announce to the press that Conor Casey is staying with the club for another season. "After careful consideration his services are still an important asset. He was not the best player on the pitch during the season, but the feeling is he will be a key player in 2011." said the Blues owner. These are strong words since Casey put up some decent numbers last year.

The First of Three is Announced

Wondo.........ful! Union S.C. announced that Chris Wondolowski will be the first of the club's three Designated Players in 2011. "Chris was a feel good story in 2010 and the expectation is that he will continue to score goals next season. He is young and hopefully will only get better" said Frederick, the Blues owner. The announcement comes after Union S.C. completed the trade with Gold Coast to obtain the rights to another DP slot.

Wolyneic placed in a reserve role

Expanding the roster

Thanks to the new "Reserve Rule" Union S.C. has just signed John Wolyneic to join the team roster. In 2009, Wolyneic scored 2 goals and 1 assist. He played in 20 games which is good, but started in only 8 of those games. In all likelyhood he will begin the 2010 season in a reserve role and have to prove himself from there.