Chicago selects UCI’s Sias

UC Irvine senior David Sias, the Big West Conference Defensive Player of the Year as a senior defender on the most successful men’s soccer team in UCI history, was selected by the Chicago Fire with the 43rd pick of the Major League Soccer SuperDraft Thursday in St. Louis.

“I haven’t stopped smiling for the last three hours,” Sias said by phone Thursday afternoon, not long after he was informed of the news while driving to practice for the Fountain Valley High frosh-soph boys’ soccer team for which he is the head coach.

“[UCI Coach George] Kuntz called to tell me it was Chicago and I almost got in an accident,” said Sias, who said he watched the first round of the draft on television.

“A few teams had expressed interest, but I had no prior information that I would be drafted. I was just keeping my fingers crossed.”

Sias said he had already spoken with members of the Fire organization and he is making plans to attend training camp in a couple of weeks.

He said he won’t be able to complete the high school season or his current courses at UCI.

“I just started the second quarter and I was planning on graduating in March, but soccer, right now, will have to come first,” Sias said.

A center defender, Sias was a four-year standout who made 69 career starts for the Anteaters, whom he helped lead to their first Big West regular-season and conference tournament titles, en route to the program’s first appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

With Sias, a co-captain, anchoring a defense that limited opponents to one or fewer goals in 17 games, including six shutouts, UC Irvine finished 15-2-6, before being eliminated by St. John’s in the round of 16.

Sias was named first-team All-West Region by the National Soccer Coaches Assn. of America and was named third-team All-American by TopDrawerSoccer.com.

Chicago was 13-10-7 last season, finishing second to Columbus in the Eastern Division and advancing to the Eastern Division final, where it lost to eventual MLS Cup winner Columbus, a team that featured former UCI star Brad Evans.

Sias is the fourth UCI player ever selected in the MLS SuperDraft.

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at [email protected].