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Sporting KC selects goalkeeper, defender in first round of MLS SuperDraft

Published Jan. 19, 2018 4:14 p.m. ET

Sporting Kansas City selected a pair of four-year college starters with its two first-round picks in the 2018 MLS SuperDraft on Friday.

The club used the 13th overall pick on 23-year-old goalkeeper Eric Dick of Butler University and the 18th pick on 22-year-old defender Graham Smith of the University of Denver.

The club did not have a second-round pick. Rounds 3 and 4 will be held Sunday, although Sporting KC will not pick until the fourth round, where it has two picks (No. 75 and No. 82 overall).

Dick, who was born in Roeland Park, Kansas, posted 28 shutouts and a 0.96 goals-against average in 71 career starts at Butler. He was a United Soccer Coaches First Team All-American as a senior after being named the 2017 Big East Conference Goalkeeper of the Year.

Smith spent two years (2014-15) at Oregon State, where he was teammates with current Sporting KC forward Khiry Shelton as a freshman, before transferring to Denver for two seasons (2016-17). The defender had six goals and seven assists in his two seasons with the Pioneers. As a senior, Smith was a United Soccer Coaches All-West Region Second Team selection and a CoSIDA Academic All-American.

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