Another day, some more roster moves for the Seattle Sounders.
Seattle on Thursday acquired defender Chad Marshall from the Columbus Crew in exchange for allocation money and a third-round pick in the 2015 Major League Soccer SuperDraft. The Sounders also re-signed goalkeeper Josh Ford.
“Chad is a quality defender who brings experience to the Sounders,” said Sounders coach Sigi Schmid, who coached Marshall in Columbus. “He is dominant in the air, has won an MLS Cup and been a league defender of the year. I look forward to working with Chad again.”
Marshall, 29, spent the past 10 seasons with the Crew, earning MLS Defender of the Year and Best XI honors in 2008 and 2009. He ranks 21st among active players with 253 MLS appearances and was capped 11 times by the U.S. national team.
Marshall started all 30 appearances for Columbus in 2013, logging the second-most minutes (2,638) on the team. He made a career high 32 starts in 2011, and has started at least 24 games in eight of his 10 seasons.
Overall, Marshall started 250 of his 253 appearances for the Crew, recording 16 goals and 10 assists in the regular season. He has scored twice in 11 appearances in the MLS Cup playoffs, including the game-winning goal in the 2008 MLS Cup final. He also helped Columbus capture the Supporters’ Shield in 2004, 2008 and 2009.
Ford, 26, has spent the past three seasons in Seattle after being selected in the first round (11th pick) of the 2011 MLS Supplemental Draft. The University of Connecticut product has made seven appearances in MLS Reserve League play, compiling a 3-3-1 record.
“The work that he has done with goalkeeper coach Tom Dutra has helped him to be in a position to compete in goal,” Sounders sporting director Chris Henderson said of Ford. “Josh is an up-and-coming goalkeeper with very good quality and has proven to be a great teammate in the clubhouse.”
The moves are the latest in a flurry of roster transactions made by the Sounders this week. Earlier they parted ways with starting goalkeeper Michael Gspurning, acquired Toronto goalkeeper Stefan Frei in a trade, declined an option on defender Marc Burch, elected not to re-sign former No. 1 pick Steve Zakuani, whose contract expired after the 2013 season, and traded midfielder Mauro Rosales to Chivas USA for forward Tristan Bowen.
The Portland Timbers selected Zakuani in Thursday’s MLS re-entry draft.
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