After spending his entire rookie year as part of Wilmington Hammerheads FC, Major League Soccer affiliate New York City FC has signed goalkeeper Andre Rawls for the 2016 MLS Season.
Rawls was originally drafted by New York City FC in the third round (44th overall) of the 2015 MLS SuperDraft and signed with the Club’s USL Affiliate, Wilmington Hammerheads, for the 2015 season. He made 22 starts in net last year and has been with the MLS Club for the entirety of pre-season and traveled with the team to Puerto Rico at the end of 2015.
“The time I spent down in Wilmington was a great experience and I’d like to thank everyone involved at the club,” said Rawls. “It was my first professional experience. I got a lot of games in and that really helped me grow as a goalkeeper and helped in my development as a professional. That step through the USL was a really good bridge from college to MLS for me.”
New York City FC Sporting Director Claudio Reyna believes Rawls is ready to take the next step in New York:
“Andre is a promising young goalkeeper that has been in our system for a while now,” Reyna added. “He did very well for our USL affiliate team Wilmington Hammerheads last season. He knows how we are looking to play and has shown significant improvement throughout our preseason training camp this year. We look forward to continuing to help Andre develop and have him as part of our group.”
The Hammerheads competed in their second preseason match on Wednesday, earning a 3-2 result at Wingate University. Wilmington will continue it college circuit with a game at Elon University on Saturday, March 5.
