The Swope Park Rangers have signed midfielder Dakota Barnathan, the club announced today. Barnathan was selected by FC Dallas in the third round (59th overall) of the 2017 MLS SuperDraft after completing his college career at Virginia Commonwealth University, but did not sign with the club.
“I’m happy to be here and I’m looking forward to the season,” Barnathan said. “Hopefully we can finish off what we started last year and go one further.”
“We’re happy to be able to add Dakota to our roster,” Swope Park Rangers head coach Nikola Popovic said. “Dakota is a defensive midfielder who can also play at center back, he has an interesting profile in that he can cover a lot of ground and is also technically very good on the ball.”
The 22-year-old, who can play in the midfield or along the backline, made 80 appearances at Virginia Commonwealth University, tallying nine goals and eight assists for the Rams. He captained the side during his junior and senior seasons, helping guide the Rams to the A-10 Conference Championship match in 2015 and 2016.
The Massapequa, N.Y. native was an All-Conference First Team selection as a senior, having also earned All-Conference Rookie Team honors in 2013. Barnathan left VCU with the second-most starts in program history with 72, eight behind Colorado Rapids defender Dennis Castillo.
Barnathan spent his last two summers playing for the Portland Timbers Under-23 team in the USL Premier Development League. In 2016, he made six appearances for the Timbers, tallying two goals and one assist as captain of the side.
VITALS
Dakota Barnathan (BAR-nuh-thun)
Position: Defender/Midfielder
Born: 11/9/94 (22 years old)
Height: 6-2
Weight: 165 lbs.
College: Virginia Commonwealth University
Hometown: Massapequa, N.Y.
Birthplace: Massapequa, N.Y.
Citizenship: USA
Twitter: @DakotaB08
Instagram: @dakotabarn8
