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It's time for the annual MLS College Combine, an event which brings together the majority of the pool of players that will inform the MLS SuperDraft and the technical staffs of the team who will do the drafting.
The basic 2017 plan for the Combine is to divide the 66 invited players into four teams, and have them play against each other over the course of three match days. Between those games, a battery of physical tests, and interviews between players and interested teams, it is thought the MLS clubs (who will also have scouted more than a few attendees independently) will have sufficient information to make their draft selections on January 13.
The four teams have been named Chaos, Control, Copa, and Tango. On Day 1 of the Combine, Chaos will play Control and Copa will play Tango.
The invited players have already been announced, and several mock drafts have already been published. Mlssoccer.com's Matt Doyle has the New York Red Bulls picking Monmouth goalkeeper Eric Klenofsky in his mock draft. Klenofsky is on Team Control.
Draft Utopia and SBI Soccer think RBNY's first pick (17th overall) will be UNC's versatile full back Colton Storm. He is on Team Chaos.
Top Drawer Soccer sees RBNY drafting SIUE defender Austin Ledbetter - who is with Klenofsky on Team Control.
As it happens, Team Control and Team Chaos play each other on Day 1, kicking off at 4:15 pm, Eastern.
Team Copa plays Team Tango at 6:00 pm.
Both games will be streamed live.
MLS 2017 College Combine, Match Day 1
When: Sunday, January 8, 2017
Where: StubHub Center, Carson, CA
Game 1: Team Control vs Team Chaos @ 4:15 pm, Eastern
Live Stream via mlssoccer.com