A couple years ago, center back Steve Purdy made all the splash by signing with 1860 Munich a month or so following the end of his senior season with Cal. To put that in perspective, it’s like signing with the Clippers (Bayern Munich, stacked roster and all, are the Lakers of the Bundesliga), except the other team in Los Angeles play in the NBDL, except linking second division soccer in Europe to the NBDL is a faulty comparison. To be fair, half the teams play at a second-tier level in the United States’ fixed league systems, so it’s somewhat fitting to say he’s signed with a Mets-equivalent when they were irrelevant.

Midfielder Andrew Jacobson also grabbed headlines when he signed with French club FC Lorient earlier this year. He’s got all the tools to make it at the next level, and here’s hoping Jacobson will make an impact for U.S. soccer some time down the road (translation: for the National Team).

Now, it’s senior Luke Sassano’s turn. In a few minutes, the midfielder will likely start at midfielder for New York Red Bulls in their season opener, as injuries have given Sassano the chance to feed balls to forward Jozy Altidore. (Okay, that didn’t come out exactly the way I wanted it to.) If you subscribe to Fox Soccer Channel, tune in now for a 4:30 p.m. kickoff. Join me for some channel-flipping for the next 90 minutes between the New York opener and UCLA-Memphis.

Here’s a brief synopsis on Sassano as a player. The man is a versatile, two-way guy. He grew up playing up top, but sagged down to midfield for the Bears. Then during his junior season, he played a good amount of games at right back as the team was depleted by injuries.

Today, given the evolution of the position, Sassano could thrive in that attacking defender role if he can polish his game on the back half of the pitch. The midfielder was serviceable as a defender at the college level, and he does have the speed to run side-by-side with the prototypical winger. Sassano seemed like the classic team-first type of guy, not one of those frustrating players who have tunnel-vision on what kind of role they want to play on the field.