RENTON — The Seattle Sounders FC lost midfielders Sanna Nyassi and Nathan Sturgis in Wednesday’s Major League Soccer expansion draft. Both were picked by the Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
Nyassi, 21, was taken with the second overall pick and Sturgis, 23, with the sixth.
The Portland Timbers chose FC Dallas midfielder Dax McCarty with the first overall selection.
Following the loss of Nyassi, Seattle added defender Patrick Ianni to its protected list. Teams could not lose more than two players in the draft.
“Sanna’s explosive speed will be missed,” Sounders FC head coach Sigi Schmid said in a statement released by the team.
Nyassi was the third player signed by Seattle prior to its inaugural season in 2009. After playing sparingly in 2009, the Gambian blossomed in the second half of the 2010 season. He started 11 of the final 13 regular-season matches and both playoff games on the right wing. Nyassi scored two goals and added three assists during the final 14 matches. He scored both goals in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup final, a 2-1 win over Columbus.
Sturgis, acquired by Seattle in the 2008 expansion draft, achieved career highs in 2010 in appearances (20, including 16 starts) and minutes played (1,483). A five-year veteran, he started 15 of the last 16 games in central midfield, scoring one goal and collecting two assists.
“Nate was a very important player to our team last year,” Schmid said.
Later in the day, Seattle acquired forward O’Brian White from the Whitecaps in exchange for allocation money. White, 24, was chosen 12th overall by Vancouver in the expansion draft. He started 14 times for Toronto FC in his two MLS seasons.
“O’Brian is a forward with good pace and size” Schmid said. “He adds another option for us in our desire to be a club that scores goals.”
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