Oct. 1, 2002
SAN JOSE, Calif. - In a move that will enhance their offensive firepower, the San Jose CyberRays today obtained forward Mandy Clemens in a trade with the Philadelphia Charge. In exchange, the CyberRays, who finished fifth in the 2002 WUSA standings, gave up their first-round draft pick in this winter's league draft, the fourth pick overall.
"Being able to pick up a player of Mandy's quality and bring her back to the area where she was most successful is a huge bonus for us," CyberRays coach Ian Sawyers said. "There are good players in the college draft, but being able to get player of Mandy's experience is a great move for us."
Clemens, 25, a San Diego native, returns to the Bay Area where she won both of college soccer's player of the year awards--the Hermann Award and Missouri Athletic Club Trophy--in 1999 as a senior forward at Santa Clara University.
She was an all-America and West Coach Conference Player of the Year in three of her four seasons at Santa Clara. The Broncos went to the NCAA College Cup in each of her seasons, and she ranks second in career goals and points in WCC history. The 24 goals she scored in her final Santa Clara season is the second-best single-season performance in SCU history.
Clemens has five caps with the U.S. Women's National Team, and she was one of Philadelphia's three founding players in the original allocation of talent that began the WUSA in the spring of 2000. With seven goals and five assists for 19 points, she ranks as Philadelphia's third highest scorer over the past two seasons.
The CyberRays had the WUSA's leading scorer last season, Brazilian forward Katia, who had 15 goals. Overall, however the team was the league leader in shots and shots on goal but only sixth in goals scored.
"It's no secret we need more scoring to help Katia," Sawyers said. "We're hopeful we can put Mandy in that position. I think she will be big bonus for us, and she definitely fills big void we had from last year."
To make roster room for Clemens, the CyberRays waived 27-year-old forward Christina Bell from Santa Rosa. Bell became a starter in the ninth game of the 2001 season and finished with two goals and four assists for eight points that season. When the CyberRays switched from three forwards to two for this past season, Bell went back to the bench, starting just five games and recording one assist.
