The University of Akron Athletics
David Meves Invited To 2013 Major League Soccer Combine
December 11 | Men's Soccer
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AKRON, Ohio – University of Akron goalkeeper David Meves, who is the NCAA's all-time leader in shutouts and minutes played, has been invited to the 2013 adidas Major League Soccer Player Combine.
Meves is one of 54 college seniors selected to take the field in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., from January 11-15. Coaches and technical staffs from all 19 MLS clubs will be in attendance to scout the top talent at the 18th annual player combine.
All invited players will be eligible for selection in 2013 SuperDraft, which will take place on January 17 in Indianapolis at 12 p.m. ET.
A committee of NCAA Division I coaches from every conference, as well as MLS representatives, selected the invitees, all of whom completed their college eligibility this season. Generation adidas signings, non-collegiate players, and additional college seniors will be announced in the coming weeks.
Meves, a native of Arlington Heights, Ill., finishes his four-year Akron career as the Zips' all-time leader for wins (77) and the NCAA's leader for shutouts (54) and minutes played (8,608). His career goals-against-average of 0.50 is the lowest mark in school history and tied for fifth-best all-time.
Meves, who allowed just eight goals in 22 matches – spanning 2,040 minutes (0.35 GAA) in 2012, recently earned All-America Second Team honors for his historic accoplishments last fall and was named to the All-Mid-American Conference team for the fourth consecutive season. Furthermore, the corporate finance major (3.77 GPA) garnered Academic All-American status for the third straight year to establish a program high.
As a team, the Zips (18-1-3) recorded 16 shutouts in 2012 while limiting foes to one goal or less in 21 of 22 matches. Akron posted eight straight clean sheets from Sept. 14 to Oct. 16, which was the second-longest run in school history and tied for 13th-best total in NCAA history. With Meves in goal, UA matched the longest consecutive match shutout streak in college soccer history in 2010 with 11 straight.
Meanwhile, two other Akron seniors have their sights set on making the jump to MLS as well. Chad Barson is expected to sign a homegrown contract with the Columbus Crew while Scott Caldwell is expected to do the same with the New England Revolution. Doing so would forgo the draft process for both players.
Here's a preliminary list of 2013 MLS Combine invites:
GOALKEEPERS: James Belshaw (Duke), Scott Goodwin (North Carolina), Luis Soffner (Indiana), Daniel Withrow (Marshall), Brad Stuver (Cleveland State), David Meves (Akron), Larry Jackson (Santa Clara)
DEFENDERS: Taylor Kemp (Maryland), Danny Wenzel (Wake Forest), Jordan Gafa (North Carolina), Brenton Griffiths (South Florida), Jimmy Nealis (Georgetown), Tommy Muller (Georgetown), Eric Schoenle (West Virginia), John Gallagher (Penn State), Kofi Opare (Michigan), Joe Franco (Cal State Northridge), Shaun Foster (Hofstra), Andrew Ribeiro (Creighton), Kory Kindle (CSU Bakersfield), Dylan Tucker-Gangnes (Washington)
MIDFIELDERS: Kyle Bekker (Boston College), John Stertzer (Maryland), Colin Murphy (Boston College), Jonathan Mendoza (Stetson), Donald Smith (Charlotte), Paolo DelPiccolo (Louisville), Greg Cochrane (Louisville), Leston Paul (South Florida), Ian Christianson (Georgetown), Carlos Alvarez (Connecticut), Dillon Powers (Notre Dame), Marc Cintron (Providence), Machael David (UC Santa Barbara), Paul Wyatt (James Madison), Tommy Nelson (SMU), Uwem Etuk (West Virginia), Jose Gomez (Creighton), Blake Smith (New Mexico), Ryan Hollingshead (UCLA), Fernando Monge (UCLA), Ben Fisk (Washington), Dan Delgado (San Diego)
FORWARDS: Will Bates (Virginia), Luke Spencer (Xavier), Ryan Finley (Notre Dame), Ashton Bennett (Coastal Carolina), Don Anding (Northeastern), Yannick Smith (Old Dominion), Devon Sandoval (New Mexico), Emery Welshman (Oregon State), Coleton Henning (Furman), Chris Thomas (Elon), Erik Hurtado (Santa Clara)
