Jan. 12, 2007

Santa Clara, Calif. - Santa Clara University freshman Amaechi Igwe was selected in the first round of the 2007 MLS SuperDraft by the MLS runner-up New England Revolution on Friday. Igwe is the fourth Santa Clara player to be drafted in the first round in the past four drafts. He was selected 12th overall.

"We are happy that Amaechi was selected in the first round by New England," said Broncos head coach Cameron Rast. "They have a good coaching staff there and that will be a great environment for him to start his professional career."

Igwe had a strong freshman campaign for the Broncos, starting 20 of 23 games and helping the team reach the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament. The Belmont, Calif. native scored five goals and notched three assists for 13 points to place second on the team in goals and points. He scored the game-winning goal against San Francisco on Oct. 20 helping the Broncos build a big lead in the West Coast Conference en route to their second conference championship in four years.

Igwe also competed with the Under-20 national team in six matches in 2006, including a closed-door scrimmage against Haiti on Oct. 11. He saw time in two matches against Canada in Toronto in early July, before helping the U.S. to a second-place finish at the 2006 Milk Cup in Northern Ireland in early August. In Canada, Igwe scored his first goal for the team on a header for the only U.S. goal on July 9th, and also assisted on Josmer Altidore's game-winning goal late in the first half in the previous game on July 7th. Igwe started two games in the Milk Cup. He is currently with the Under-20 team in preparation for the CONCACAF U-20 Final Round Qualifying Tournament, which will be played in Panama next week.

Past Bronco first round draft picks include Mehdi Ballouchy, who was picked first overall by Real Salt Lake in 2006, and Ryan Cochrane and Steve Cronin, who were both first round picks by the San Jose Earthquakes in 2004.