MetroStars trade up, take UCLA defender Wynne with No. 1 pick

PHILADELPHIA (AP) _ UCLA defender Marvell Wynne was taken by the MetroStars with the first pick of the 2006 Major League Soccer draft Friday. <br/><br/>Wynne's father, also named Marvell, played eight

Friday, January 20th 2006, 9:37 pm

By: News On 6

PHILADELPHIA (AP) _ UCLA defender Marvell Wynne was taken by the MetroStars with the first pick of the 2006 Major League Soccer draft Friday.

Wynne's father, also named Marvell, played eight seasons in major league baseball with Pittsburgh, San Diego and the Chicago Cubs in the 1980s.

To get Wynne, the MetroStars traded the fifth pick in the draft and second-year defender Jason Hernandez to Chivas USA for the first pick. Chivas selected Seton Hall junior midfielder Sacha Kljestan with the fifth pick.

``There were some rumors about me being the first pick, but the MetroStars, that was out of the blue. A complete surprise,'' Wynne said. ``Being the No. 1 pick, I know people are going to have high standards for me, and I plan to live up to them.''

The 19-year-old Wynne, of Poway, Calif., played two years at UCLA and was an All-America last fall, when the Bruins had a goals-against average of 0.67. He also has made 12 appearances with the U.S. under-20 national team and was on the roster for last year's FIFA World Youth Championship.

``We are very excited to get Marvell,'' MetroStars coach Mo Johnston said. ``He has strength and pace, and those two qualities will make for a very good defender in this league.''

Salt Lake took Santa Clara midfielder Mehdi Ballouchy with the second pick, and Columbus selected Maryland forward Jason Garey, the Hermann Trophy winner, with the third. Kansas City then took Pasadena City College forward Yura Movsisyan.

Dallas used the sixth pick on University of North Carolina midfielder Dax McCarty, and D.C. United chose Wake Forest midfielder Justin Moore. Houston drafted eighth and selected UCLA defender Patrick Ianni, Columbus took Cal State Dominguez Hills forward Kei Kamara, and Chicago picked University of California forward Calen Carr.

The final first-round picks went to New England (Alabama-Birmingham midfielder Leandro de Oliveira) and Los Angeles (Clemson defender-midfielder Nathan Sturgis).