UC Santa Barbara men’s soccer alumnus and seven-year Major League Soccer veteran Dan Kennedy was selected with the first overall pick of this week’s Chivas USA Dispersal Draft by Dallas FC.
The Dispersal Draft was conducted via teleconference on Wednesday afternoon with seven players from Chivas taken. Kennedy, 32, was the only player over the age of 23 to be selected.
The MLS announced on Oct. 27 that Chivas USA would immediately cease operations, leaving all players on the roster and in the system without a club. Three days later, on Oct. 30, the MLS announced plans for an expansion franchise in Los Angeles, with the new club beginning play in 2017.
With Chivas USA folding, Kennedy will officially go down as the franchise’s all-time leader in games played (144), games started (142), saves (451), shutouts (28), and minutes played (12,764).
The Fullerton-born Kennedy was one of the few bright spots for Chivas USA in the franchise’s final years, providing top-notch shotstopping abilities while appearing in 128 of the team’s 136 games after taking over the starting role in 2011.
Individual career highlights for Kennedy include being named Chivas USA Player of the Year awards in 2011 and 2012, an MLS All-Star selection in 2012, and scoring his first career goal in the U.S. Open Cup in 2013.
As one of the conditions of being selected in the Dispersal Draft, Kennedy’s contract and salary are guaranteed for the 2015 season. FC Dallas holds a team option for the 2016 season, the final year of a contract extension signed in 2013 with Chivas USA.
“Every time you have an opportunity to add quality to your roster in a very complicated system, we’re excited,” FC Dallas technical director Fernando Clavijo told MLSsoccer.com.
UCSB’s all-time leader in goalkeeper wins, games played, minutes played, and shutouts, Kennedy was a main contributor on the 2004 team that reached the national championship game. The two-time Big West Goalkeeper of the Year had an unreal 0.55 goals-against average in his senior year, and became the third Gaucho to be drafted that season, going in the fourth round of the MLS Supplemental Draft to Chivas.
