D.C. United announced today that Matt Oduran and Will Swaim have "been released from their respective trials" along with draft pick Matthew Kuhn and UMBC's standout forward Levi Houapeu, who continues to suffer from the league's roster restrictions on international players despite having moved to the United States from the Ivory Coast at 12 years of age.
Levi did enough in college to merit an extended look with some MLS squad, but things don't seem to be breaking the right way for him. At this point, the talent evaluation of D.C. United's front office and coaching staff regarding kids from outside of the club's academy doesn't instill a lot of confidence for the upcoming season.
I failed to note that the USL Pro Combine invitee list includes not only Dray Washington, but also two of his teammates at George Mason University -- Parker Walton and Eric Zuehsow. The list also includes University of North Carolina Wilmington's Shawn Guderian. One of Guderian's teammates at UNCW, Shaun Utterson, was recently signed by the Blyth Spartans and has acquitted himself well enough early on to start Blyth's last two matches. Utterson joins another recent Blyth signing with American collegiate soccer experience, Sam Hodgson.
Maybe Utterson's and Hodgson's football careers don't progress beyond Blyth. But playing for a club with the history and pageantry of Blyth is a heck of a lot better as a fallback option than what Oduran, Swaim, Kuhn, and Houapeu have available to them.
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