Originally published November 26, 2008 at 12:02 PM | Page modified November 26, 2008 at 4:47 PM

Nate Jaqua leads list of 10 players taken by Sounders in expansion draft

Seattle Sounders FC added 10 players to its roster today via the MLS expansion draft.

Seattle Times staff reporter

VICTOR DECOLONGON / GETTY IMAGES

Northwest native Nate Jaqua registered four goals and four assists in 14 games with the Houston Dynamo this season.

Seattle Sounders FC revealed its list of the 10 players the club selected today in the Major League Soccer expansion draft.

The 10 players, chosen from a list of players not protected from the draft by the 14 other MLS franchises: Nate Jaqua (Houston Dynamo), Nathan Sturgis (Real Salt Lake), Jeff Parke (New York Red Bulls), Jarrod Smith (Toronto FC), Khano Smith (New England Revolution), Peter Vagenas (Los Angeles Galaxy), Tyson Wahl (Kansas City Wizards), James Riley (San Jose), Stephen King (Chicago Fire) and Brad Evans (2008 MLS champion Columbus Crew).

"We're extremely pleased with the outcome of our expansion draft," Sounders FC general manager Adrian Hanauer said. "We wanted a combination of experienced veterans, guys who have been in the trenches, guys who have been around three or four years and then some young guys."

Four MLS teams did not lose a player to Sounders FC — FC Dallas, Chivas USA, the Colorado Rapids and D.C. United.

Jaqua, a forward from Eugene, Ore., won an MLS Cup with the Dynamo in 2007.

"We wanted winners from the past or other organizations," Hanauer said. "We want to be creative, we want speed, we want versatility in players. We felt that this group would blend well with the players under contract and guys we're circling the wagons on as we speak."

Those would presumably be former United Soccer Leagues Sounders players and/or international players or those from another USL team.

The 10 new players join the four already signed by Seattle — goalkeeper Kasey Keller and midfielders Sanna Nyassi, Freddie Ljungberg and forward Sebastien Le Toux.

José Miguel Romero: 206-464-2409 or jromero@seattletimes.com

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Comments

swansuite so you rather us spend more of the allocation money on the expansion draft than we need do we still have a lot more player recruiting... Posted on November 27, 2008 at 7:46 AM by gstommylee. Jump to comment

I can't believe that they took Peter Vagenas, and that they did not take Eddie Gaven. Vagenas is a mediocre player at best, and Eddie Gaven is... Posted on November 26, 2008 at 1:16 PM by hopper. Jump to comment

This draft was horrible! There were so many great players available and we came away with this bunch. Peter Vagenas? Give me a break, the guy is... Posted on November 26, 2008 at 2:48 PM by Sterlinho. Jump to comment

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