Major League Soccer teams (signed one) and selected four Flint City Bucks players among 86 total selections in Thursday’s 2021 MLS SuperDraft.
The Bucks remain the only soccer club in North America to have players chosen at every MLS SuperDraft in history. Ninety-two Bucks have now been drafted or signed by MLS teams since 1999, and more than 200 have signed professional contracts worldwide.
Midfielder Isaiah Parente (Medina, OH / Wake Forest) earlier this month joined the reigning MLS Cup champions Columbus Crew SC, signing a homegrown contract after four years with the Crew development academy. Parente was key to the Wake Forest University attack, totaling 19 assists and three goals in 50 career appearances. Parente appeared in the first half of the Flint City Bucks’ 2019 season before being recalled to the Crew.
Goalkeeper Andrew Pannenberg (Charlotte, NC / Wake Forest) was selected in the second round, 49th overall, by Orlando City SC. After leading Flint City to national title glory in 2019 — notching back-to-back shutouts in playoff matches at Atwood Stadium — he won the starting job at Wake Forest, recording 50 saves and nine clean sheets.
Midfielder Mitch Guitar (Royal Oak, MI / Wisconsin) was selected in the third round, 60th overall, by Chicago Fire FC. Guitar played for the Bucks in 2017 and 2018, having trained at Vardar Academy under former Flint City head coach Demir Muftari. He signed his first professional contract in 2020 with Indy Eleven of the USL Championship.
Midfielder Giuseppe Barone (Grandville, MI / MSU) was selected in the third round, 63th overall, by CF Montréal. Barone spent three consecutive summers with the Bucks but played just one match in 2019 due to injury. Before the setback, Barone earned Big Ten Midfielder of the Year honors at Michigan State University his junior year.
Forward Leroy Enzugusi (Marion, IA / Drake) was selected in the third round, 86th overall, by Nashville SC. The quick attacker scored 21 goals over three seasons with Drake University. Enzugusi joined Sporting Kansas City's academy in 2016, where Nashville general manager Mike Jacobs then served as assistant technical director. Enzugusi tallied two goals and an assist with the 2019 Bucks.
Noteworthy:
Four more players were drafted who committed to play for Flint City before USL League Two canceled its 2020 season due to the pandemic: David Egbo (Akron), first round to Vancouver; Josh Bauer (UNH), second round to Atlanta; Aiden McFadden (Notre Dame), third round to Atlanta; and Aris Briggs (Georgia State), third round to St. Louis.
The Flint City Bucks are the most successful pre-professional team in U.S. soccer history, winning three USASA Hank Steinbrecher Cups and four USL League Two titles in their twenty-five-year history.
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