AZUSA, Calif. -- Azusa Pacific’s Steven Lenhart was selected by the Columbus Crew with the 48th overall selection Friday afternoon in the MLS SuperDraft in Baltimore, Maryland.
“I am incredibly proud of Steve,” said Phil Wolf, who was officially announced the Brine-NAIA 2007 NAIA Men’s Soccer Coach of the Year less than 2 hours prior to Lenhart’s selection. “He absolutely deserves this opportunity, and Azusa Pacific soccer is very proud of him. We know he will represent us well.”
Lenhart, the 2007 GSAC and NAIA Region II Player of the Year, was named the 2007 NAIA Men's Soccer National Championship Tournament MVP and Outstanding Offensive Player, in addition to earning NAIA All-American first team recognition.
“I haven’t really had time to sit down and think about it,” said Lenhart. “I never thought I would play professional soccer, but it would definitely be cool for my future to try to pave a new road and do something different. I never dreamed of playing soccer after college until it just started becoming a reality over the last couple of months.”
The 6-foot-1 forward scored 16 goals in 2007, including 9 game-winning goals. He scored 2 goals, both game-winners, at the 2007 NAIA Tournament to help lead Azusa Pacific to its first-ever NAIA men's soccer championship. Lenhart finished with 38 career goals and 12 assists, placing him ninth on the Cougars’ all-time goals list and tenth in career points with 88.
Lenhart, a 2004 graduate of Esperanza High in Yorba Linda, was 1 of 2 players selected from NAIA schools, joining 2007 NAIA National Player of the Year Ricardo Pierre-Louis meriting a second-round (22nd overall) selection, also by the Columbus Crew. Lenhart is also the second Azusa Pacific player selected in the MLS draft, joining P.J. Brown, who was a third-round selection (28th overall) of the Colorado Rapids in 1998.
Lenhart has been invited to the Crew’s training camp, which begins in just over a week.
