KANSAS CITY, Mo – With the first overall pick in the 2012 MLS SuperDraft, the Montreal Impact selected Generation adidas defender and Hermann Trophy winner Andrew Wenger, Thursday, at the Kansas City Convention Center.
“Andrew Wenger was our guy and we are very happy with our pick,” said Impact head coach Jesse Marsch. “He was the best soccer player available to us. We know that he will handle the pressure and the expectations very well because he is a mature young man. I believe he has the potential to become a great midfielder, defender and forward. We certainly feel that we became a stronger team today.”
“I’m extremely excited to join the Montreal Impact and I’m looking forward to the 2012 campaign,” said Wenger. “I’d like to be already on the field already to start. I will do whatever I can to help the Impact win games. I know that my friend Zarek Valentin (Montreal Impact defender) has been learning French so I will have to pick it up too.”
Wenger, 21, played the last three seasons with Duke University, winning the 2011 Missouri Athletic Club's Hermann Trophy, presented to the best male player in NCAA Division I soccer. After anchoring Duke's defence at center back for two years, he moved to forward in 2011 and led the Atlantic Coast Conference with 17 goals and eight passes for a total of 42 points, ranking fourth nationally in total points, and sixth in total goals.
He was selected as the 2011 ACC Offensive Player of the Year, completing the trifecta of ACC major awards after being respectively named the ACC Rookie of the Year and ACC Defensive Player of the Year in 2009 and 2010, respectively. He also became the second Blue Devil in program history to earn CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team honours and spots on both the All-ACC Academic Team and ACC Academic Honour Roll each of his three seasons.
At the international level, Wenger was selected by the United States Under-23 National Team last January 7 to participate in a training camp in California. He was also selected to the U-20 U.S. National Team in 2008 and U-17 U.S. National Team in 2007.
ANDREW WENGER
Position: Defender
Height: 6’0
Weight: 185 lbs
Birth date: December 25, 1990, Lancaster, USA
Place of residence: Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA
Former club: Duke University (NCAA)
Acquired: January 12, 2012 (SuperDraft, 1st round, 1st overall)
