Seattle gets Evans, Wahl in MLS expansion draft

Newport Harbor High product Tyson Wahl and former UC Irvine standout Brad Evans were among 10 players selected by the Seattle Sounders FC in the Major League Soccer expansion draft Wednesday.

Evans, a midfielder who helped the Columbus Crew win the MLS Cup Sunday with a 3-1 triumph over the New York Red Bulls, scored five goals and had one assist in 28 games for the Crew.

Evans played in 26 games, starting 18, in 2008 and his three game-winning goals tied for the team lead.

Evans, 23, was chosen 15th overall by Columbus in the 2007 SuperDraft. He had one assist in four games for the Crew in 2007, including one start.

“I’m excited for sure and looking forward to the opportunity,” Evans said. “There were a lot of quality names left unprotected, so to be selected was a testament to how well we did this year and me being a vital piece of that.”

Evans was a third-team All-American as a senior at UCI and his 31 career goals rank No. 2 in UCI annals after Matt Murphy, a senior on this year’s Anteaters squad, surpassed him with 33. Evans was the Big West Conference Offensive Player of the Year in 2006 and 2005, and was the conference’s Midfielder of the Year in 2004.

“We took him, because he’s an exciting central player, a big part of Columbus’ season,” Chris Henderson, the Sounders technical director, told MLSnet.com. “He’s a great competitor and has a desire to improve. This was an important key for us.”

Wahl, 24, a defender the last three seasons for the Kansas City Wizards, had played 32 career games in the MLS, including 26 starts.

He was an All-American defender at Cal who was chosen with the 19th overall pick by Kansas City in the 2006 SuperDraft.

Wahl was a two-time All-CIF Southern Section Division II performer at Newport Harbor.

Evans said leaving Columbus is bittersweet.

“I’ve developed so many good friendships over the past two years,” he said. “We had a team get-together [Tuesday night] and knowing this might happen, I said some goodbyes. It was a real special group of guys and we put together a really good locker room.”

— Barry Faulkner