After three years of forsaking the MLS SuperDraft, the Union made three selections Tuesday in the 2024 edition of the college draft.
The Union selected Penn forward Stas Korzeniowski, Stanford midfielder Zach Bohane and goalie Francesco Montali of Boston University.
All three are longshots to make the first team, which the club last week bolstered with the signing of Homegrown midfielder Nick Pariano and left back Isaiah LeFlore. The Union have 27 players under contract for next year, which does not include the draftees, who are more likely to begin with Union II.
Korzeniowski came off the board at the 53rd overall pick, in the second round. He has the measurables, a 6-4, 193-pound forward. He led the Quakers with eight assists and 20 points to go with six goals, second on the team. The New Jersey native and Pennington School grad was first-team All-Ivy as a sophomore with 11 goals and seven assists. He was a second-team pick this year after being named second team All-American as a sophomore.
Bohane, the 63rd overall pick early in the third round, is a sophomore from Monte Serena, Calif. Part of the De Anza Force club, he traveled internationally in his youth. The 5-10, 150-pound midfielder played in 17 games as a freshman before a super sophomore season, with eight goals and 11 assists for the Cardinal, who made the Elite Eighth before falling to national champion Clemson.
Montali, picked No. 82 overall, is a 6-3 senior from powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas in Florida. The two-time Patriot League goalie of the year led the Terriers to their first league title in 2023, with a .737 save percentage and 0.83 goals against average. He started his college career at Florida International before three seasons and 47 games at BU with a 0.99 GAA. He’s spent time with the youth teams of the New York Red Bulls and Orlando City.
The Union made three selections in the 2023 SuperDraft, but only goalie Holden Trent made the roster, without appearing in a league game. The last player drafted by the Union who appeared in an MLS game for them was Jack Elliott, picked in 2017.
The Union traded their first-round pick to Inter Miami in the package that landed Damion Lowe. They acquired a third-round pick from Austin in exchange for Brandan Craig’s late-season loan, used on Bohane.
The Union’s more consequential move Tuesday was signing forward Chris Donovan to a new contract. The 23-year-old will stay with the club through 2025 with club options for 2026 and 2027.
Donovan had a goal and an assist in 18 MLS games (four starts). He played 29 games in all competitions with four goals, including the clincher to send them to the Leagues Cup semifinal and to advance from the first round of the MLS Cup playoffs.
He also had six goals and three assists in 11 starts for Union II.
The graduate of Conestoga and Drexel University was drafted 68th overall by Columbus in the 2022 SuperDraft and acquired by the Union on waivers.
