Belmont University soccer player John Paul Rodrigues, who also has played for the Nashville Metros of soccer’s Premiere Development League, was selected first overall in the United Soccer League First Division College Draft last week, by the new USL expansion team in Miami. Details at USLSoccer.com. Rodrigues, a junior from Lutz, Fla., is the only soccer player from the Atlantic Sun conference to be selected in the USL expansion draft.
The 6-1 defender played a team-high 1,317 minutes during his junior campaign and anchored a defensive line that helped the Belmont Bruins to a 1.45 team goals-against average and three shutouts in 2005. He was tabbed A-Sun Defensive Player of the Year, a first for a Belmont player, and earned All-Conference First-Team honors for the second year in a row. Belmont Bruins sports news has more about his Belmont soccer career here.
