The Fire selected right back Marco Franco out of the University of California, Irvine with the thirteenth overall pick in the 2013 MLS SuperDraft, after trading the eighth pick for the thirteenth as a part of Wednesday’s trade of Jalil Anibaba.
With the Anteaters, Franco was honored as the Big West Conference’s 2013 Defensive Player of the Year in 2013 and was tied for seventh on the all-time UC Irvine games started list.
Franco, though being taken in the second half of the first round, has the potential to step in and start for the team this season, especially after the trade of Jalil Anibaba to Seattle that dropped the Fire from the eighth pick to the thirteenth.
Goalkeeper Andre Blake was selected with the first overall pick by the draft host Philadelphia Union out of the University of Connecticut after the team traded the second overall pick to D.C. United, becoming the first keeper to ever be selected that high.