Orlando City SC has added more youth to its roster via the 2019 Major League Soccer SuperDraft.
The Lions announced on Jan. 11 they selected forward Santiago Patiño with the third-overall pick (first round), defender Kamal Miller with the 27th-overall pick (second round) and midfielder Tommy Madden with the 38th-overall pick (second round) in McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois.
Patiño, a Freedom High School alumnus, joins City after four seasons at Florida International University. With the Panthers, he scored 37 goals and tallied nine assists in 69 appearances and 51 starts. Those numbers and his play were good enough to earn garner three All-Conference USA selections. His junior year, however, was his best, as the Medellín, Colombia, native was named the C-USA Player of the Year and C-USA Offensive Player of the Year and won the Golden Boot award.
With the Patriots, he was an All-Metro selection all four years of his high-school career and was named the Orange County Athlete of the Year after his senior year.
As for Miller, he played his four collegiate seasons with Syracuse University. In 78 appearances, Miller tallied seven goals and three assists. Miller helped the Orange to 11 clean sheets, the third-most in a season in school history, in his sophomore season. In his upperclassman years, he was named a team captain. The Pickering, Ottawa, native earned All-Atlantic Coast Conference and All-South Region honors after his senior season.
Lastly, Madden was selected out of the University of North Carolina-Charlotte. As a Niner, he earned All-Conference USA honors in each of the four seasons he played. He scored seven times and assisted on nine other goals in 72 appearances, helping the Niners to the postseason in three of his four seasons.
All three of Orlando City’s picks are 21 years old, adding to an already-young roster. The Lions will look to make the playoffs for the first time in their fifth season of MLS competition.
Orlando City and the rest of MLS will continue and conclude the final day of the draft on Monday at 1 p.m. with the third and fourth rounds. The Lions have the 59th-overall (third round) and 96th-overall (fourth round) picks.
For more on the Lions, as they continue offseason moves ahead of the 2019 season, follow Victor Tan on Twitter at @NDR_VictorTan.
To contact Victor, you can email him at vtan@newdayreview.com, or you can tweet at him.
