BUFFALO — After becoming the first UB player in program history to earn an invite to the Major League Soccer Player Combine, graduating senior Russell Cicerone will begin his quest to be the first UB men’s soccer player ever selected in the MLS SuperDraft. Cicerone will begin participating in the Players Combine today ahead of the MLS SuperDraft which is being held on Friday, January 13.
The Bloomfield Hills, MI native is one of 73 participants in this week’s Player Combine as he will go through some agility, power and speed testing as well as participating in three games. Cicerone will be partaking in the games on Team Copa where he will be teamed with a pair of Generation Adidas players (Jeremy Ebobisse and Adonijah Reid) as well as players from Clemson, Maryland, UConn, Wake Forest and Penn State.
SCHEDULE OF GAMES:GAME #1: Team Copa will be participating in their first game of the combine on Sunday, January 8 at 6:00 pm as they will be taking on Team Tango. A free live stream of the game can be found HERE.
GAME #2: Team Copa will be participating in their second game of the combine on Tuesday, January 10 at 4:15 pm as they will be taking on Team Chaos. A free live stream of the game can be found HERE.
GAME #3: Team Copa will be participating in their third game of the combine on Thursday, January 12 at 1:00 pm as they will be taking on Team Control. A free live stream of the game can be found HERE.
All matches at the Players Combine are being held in the StubHub Center in Carson, California. All matches are free to attend for all fans.
In addition to the players, every MLS technical staff will have a presence in Southern California. This includes head coaches, assistant coaches, technical directors and general managers.
DRAFT INFO:Rounds 1 and 2 of the 2017 MLS SuperDraft will be taking place on Friday, January 13 starting at 3:00 pm ET. The draft is being held at the Los Angeles Convention center in Los Angeles, California and fan can attend the SuperDraft free of charge. Rounds 3 and 4 of the SuperDraft will take place via conference call on Tuesday, January 17 at a time to be determined.
The SuperDraft will be streamed on starting at 3 pm ET, where you can see all the draft picks as they are announced. Also, you can use our draft tracker to follow picks by round, team or position.
CICERONE’S BUFFALO LEGACY:
Cicerone closed out his impressive UB career with his best season in 2016 as the Bloomfield Hills, MI native netted a career-high 14 goals, nine assists and 37 points as he led the MAC in all goals and points. The 37 points are the highest point total in program history since 1998 when Steve Butcher netted a program record 43 points. He closed out the season ranked fourth in the NCAA in points (37), seventh in goals (14) and 13th in assists (9)
The captain also earned First-Team All-MAC accolades for the fourth consecutive season, becoming the first player in UB history and third in MAC history to do so. Cicerone became just the second UB player in program history to earn MAC Player of the Year honors following his junior season but didn’t receive the same recognition this past season despite leading the MAC in scoring by six goals and 16 points.
The lethal scorer etched his name all over the UB record books as he was able to start all 71 matches he appeared in during his career for the blue and white. He wrapped up his four-year career ranked first in career assists (22), second in goals (42) and second in points (106) while also ranking third in MAC history in goals and points. Cicerone is just the third player in MAC history to surpass the 100-point plateau for his career.
Cicerone capped his great Buffalo career ranking second in career goals (42), second in career points (106), fifth in points/game (1.49), sixth in goals/game (0.59), 13th in career assists (22) and 15th in assists/game (0.31), among active NCAA Division I athletes for a career.
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