CARSON, Calif. (Monday, December 12, 2011) – The LA Galaxy selected four players in Stage 2 of the MLS Re-Entry Process this afternoon, claiming goalkeeper Jon Conway, defenders Andrew Boyens and Chris Leitch as well as forward Pat Noonan. The club also elected to claim current Galaxy defenders Frankie Hejduk and Dasan Robinson, who had been made available for the Re-Entry Process. The club now owns the MLS rights to all six players and has seven days to extend genuine contract offers to them. If the Galaxy cannot reach an agreement with any of the players, the club will hold the right of first refusal for that player in MLS.
As a result of winning MLS Cup 2011, the Galaxy held the 18th selection in each round, claiming Boyens in the first round, followed by Leitch, Noonan and Conway before electing to pass in the fifth round, bringing that portion of the Re-Entry Process to a close. Once all teams had passed on selecting players, they were then allowed to select their own players that were still available in the Re-Entry Process, with LA electing to claim both Hejduk and Robinson.
A New Zealand international who represented his nation at both the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2010 FIFA World Cup, defender Andrew Boyens was claimed from Chivas USA, who he played 11 games for during the 2011 season, including both legs of the SuperClasico against the Galaxy. A five-year MLS veteran, Boyens began his MLS career in 2007 with Toronto FC after being selected in the first round (10
th
overall) of that year’s MLS SuperDraft out of the University of New Mexico. After playing for TFC in their inaugural season, Boyens joined the New York Red Bulls in May 2008 and spent the next three seasons with the club, helping them reach MLS Cup in 2008. The six-foot-four center back signed with Chivas USA in February 2011 and scored once in his 11 games with the club.
The Galaxy selected another defender in the second round of the Re-Entry Process, choosing 10-year MLS veteran Chris Leitch from the San Jose Earthquakes. Leitch, who began his MLS career with Columbus in 2002, has appeared in 196 regular season games during his time in MLS, tallying 14 assists while playing for the Crew and New York, as well as San Jose, with who he has spent the last three seasons. Since joining the Earthquakes ahead of the start of the 2009 season, Leitch has appeared in 58 games, tallying eight assists, including a career-best seven assists in 2009. Capable of playing anywhere across the back, Leitch won the College Cup with the University of North Carolina in 2001 before being selected by Columbus in the fourth round of the 2002 MLS SuperDraft.
Pat Noonan was the Galaxy’s third selection in the Re-Entry Process, with the nine-year MLS veteran joining the club from Seattle. A native of Ballwin, Mo., Noonan began his career with the New England Revolution in 2003 and has appeared in 173 regular season games since then, scoring 41 goals and adding 33 assists. A finalist for the MLS Rookie of the Year award in 2003 when he scored 10 goals for the Revolution, Noonan scored 37 goals in his five years with the club. He joined Columbus in 2008 and helped the club win their first MLS Cup, scoring once and adding two assists in 11 games. He was traded to Colorado in June 2009 and appeared in 17 games for the Rapids, scoring twice. The 31-year-old forward, who won an NCAA Championship with Indiana in 1999, spent the last two seasons with Seattle Sounders FC, scoring once in 21 games for the club while also helping the club win a pair of Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup titles and reach the quarterfinals of the 2011/12 CONCACAF Champions League.
In addition to his play in MLS, Noonan spent six months playing for Aalesunds FK of the Norwegian Tippeligaen in 2008, appearing in 11 games for the club. He has collected 15 caps for the U.S. National Team, scoring once. An alternate on the 2006 U.S. World Cup team, Noonan was given his international debut by Bruce Arena against Haiti on March 13, 2004. Just under a year later, Noonan scored his first goal for the U.S., tallying in a 3-0 win over Colombia at Titan Stadium in Fullerton, Calif.
With their fourth and final selection of the Re-Entry Process, the Galaxy claimed goalkeeper Jon Conway from the Chicago Fire. A 12-year MLS veteran, Conway appeared in six games for the Fire last season, keeping one clean sheet and tallying a 1.33 goals against average. A two-time MLS Cup champion who has CONCACAF Champions League experience from his time with Toronto FC, Conway began his MLS career in 2000 when he was a member of the San Jose Earthquakes. After six seasons as the Earthquakes backup goalkeeper, Conway signed with the MetroStars (now New York Red Bulls) in December 2005. Over the next three-and-a-half years, Conway appeared in and started 63 games for the club, tallying a 23-24-15 record while keeping 17 clean sheets. He was traded to Chivas USA midway through the 2009 season, though he did not appear in any games for the club. He spent the following season with Toronto FC, appearing in just one league game, though he did feature prominently in the club’s Nutrilite Canadian Championship and CONCACAF Champions League campaigns. He was traded to Chicago prior to the start of the 2011 season and played in six games from April 17-May 21 while serving as the backup to Sean Johnson for the other 28 games of the season.
Those four players, along with Hejduk and Robinson, who were each a part of the Galaxy’s MLS Cup winning side last season, comprise half of the 12 players that were taken in Stage 2 of the Re-Entry Process. Three players were taken in Stage 1 of the Re-Entry Process last week.
