[MLS ROOKIE CLASS: Ten to Watch] Maryland's
Sasho Cirovski has produced a lot of great players over the last two decades --
two players on the 2010 World Cup team,
Maurice Edu and
Clarence Goodson, plus two likely to make the 2014 World Cup
team,
Omar Gonzalez and
Graham Zusi, and
Rodney Wallace, a Costa Rica World Cup
contender until his recent knee injury -- but none of them had the college career
Patrick Mullins had.
The forward debuted at the adidas MLS Player
Combine on Sunday after missing Friday's opening matches. He was in St. Louis to pick up his second Hermann Trophy.
MLS Rookie Class: Ten to Watch 1. Jordan Allen (Univ. of Virginia-signed with Real Salt Lake)
Read
his story. Follow
@jayalllen.
2. Steve Birnbaum (Univ. of California)
Read
his story. Follow
@StevenBirnbaum 3. Marlon Hairston (Univ. of Louisville)
Read
his story. Follow
@MARLYG10 4. Christian Dean (Univ. of California)
Read
his
story. Follow
@christiandean22 5. Pedro Ribeiro (Coastal Carolina Univ.)
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his story. Follow
@pedronalribeiro 6. Andre Blake (Univ. of Connecticut)
Read
his story.
7. Patrick Mullins (Univ. of Maryland)
Follow
@p_mullins_7 No player had won back-to-back
awards since Virginia's
Mike Fisher in 1995-96. Fisher ended up not playing pro soccer, choosing instead to attend medical school. He is now a radiologist in
North Carolina.
Mullins led Maryland to the Men's College Cup in both his junior and senior seasons, scoring 17 goals and 10 assists in 2012 and a nation-high 19 goals and eight assists
in 2013.
His 19th goal came in the College Cup final against Notre Dame. The goal was notable in that no penalty -- or red card -- was called when a Notre Dame defender had used his arm
to stop a Maryland shot, and the rebound came to Mullins, who scored for the game's opening goal. What wasn't immediately evident was that Mullins had also used his hand to bring the ball down before
scoring. After the game, which Notre Dame came back to win, Cirovski says his star was tormented.
"When I build my stadium," he said, "I'm going to bronze a statue with him out front.
He's made from the best stuff on earth. It affected him. It affected him a lot. His conscience was hurting."
Mullins said he'd regret the play for the rest of his life.
“That’s not who I am and I’m very disappointed in how that play resulted," he said. "All I can control are my actions and I’m not happy with that action. It’s
definitely hard for me to swallow because I don’t think that’s the type of player I am or the type of person. I will regret that one for the rest of my life. But I’ll move forward.
People make mistakes.”
Mullins is the third Hermann Trophy winner from Louisiana in the last decade.
Jason Garey (Maryland) and
Joseph Lapira (Notre Dame) were back-to-back winners in 2005 and 2006. Garey had a modest MLS career (15 goals in six seasons), while Lapira has spent his entire
career in the Norwegian and Icelandic minor leagues.
The left-footed Mullins could go anywhere in the top 10 picks in the SuperDraft. D.C. United holds the No. 1 pick, but it isn't clear
whether it will keep it and draft Mullins from nearby Maryland or go with one of the Cal defenders,
Christian Dean or
Steve
Birnbaum, or trade the top pick.
Cirovski has no doubt about Mullins' potential.
"Patrick leaves Maryland as one of the all-time greats," he said after Mullins signed
with MLS. "He is the total package. He improved every year at Maryland. I expect that to continue in MLS."
I heard many question his potential for MLS success while attending the College Cup. I think he's the real deal and will do very well as he is a very balanced player with a complete set of tactical, technical and psychological skills ... we'll see. It is utterly delightful to see a player holding his character and sportsmanship to a high standard. We need to celebrate this aspect more!
Seems like potential and great players are synonymous in this article. BTW Kevin, does he have that instinct of field vision to complement his game.
I think Thierry Henry, a liar and cheap-shot artist of the first order, can learn a great deal from this young man.