NEW YORK, N.Y. ? Senior defender Nigel Marples
(North Delta H.S./Delta, British Columbia, Canada) of Towson University
has been selected as one of 58 college seniors to participate in the
2007 adidas Major League Soccer (MLS) Player Combine, scheduled for
January 5-8, 2007 at Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
The coaching staffs and general managers from all 13 MLS teams will
be in attendance to scout talent at the adidas MLS Player Combine,
which concludes four days before the 2007 MLS SuperDraft. Last year, 23
players from the MLS Player Combine were drafted by MLS teams in the
four-round draft.
The 2007 adidas MLS Player Combine will separate all the players
into four teams and feature doubleheaders at Lockhart Stadium on
January 5, 6, and 8. The teams will be coached by four top college
coaches, including John Trask (Illinois-Chicago), John Rennie (Duke), Mike Noonan (Brown) and Greg Andrulis (George Mason).
A four-year starter on defense for Coach Frank Olszewski, Marples
capped off his college career by leading the Tigers to a 15-2-3 record
and an at-large berth in the NCAA College Cup. The Tigers, who were
seeded 15th in the College Cup, reached the third round of
the tournament where they dropped a 2-1 decision to second-seeded Wake
Forest. Towson won the Colonial Athletic Association regular season
title with a 10-0-1 record.
Marples, who earned first team All-South Atlantic regional honors as
well as first team All-CAA notice, was a key performer for the Tigers'
record-setting defense in 2006. As a team, the Tigers finished eighth
in the nation with a 0.62 Goals Against Average and posted 11 shutouts,
a school record.
A two-year co-captain, Marples started 68 of 72 career matches.
