"The way today went has been spectacular for us," Pastorino said after he and coach John Ellinger made RSL's 10 selections in the draft from the SkyBox Sports Grille. The picks bumped the number of players on the team's roster to 11, following Wednesday's announcement of Jason Kreis as RSL's first player.

With its first selection, Real took Chicago Fire midfielder Andy Williams. A 27-year-old member of the Jamaican National Team, Williams was a tempting choice after Wednesday's tie between the United States and Jamaica. That game disqualified Jamaica from World Cup qualifying play, leaving Williams available for most of the 2005 season.

RSL's biggest wish going into the draft was to get Chicago goalkeeper D.J. Countess, but with Williams available, Ellinger and Pastorino decided to take a chance.

"We had to drop D.J. and take a gamble, and things worked out for us," Pastorino said. RSL picked Countess in the second round; three of its first four players picked are from the Fire.

CD Chivas USA, the league's other expansion team for 2005, made L.A. Galaxy mid/forward Arturo Torres the first overall pick in the draft. Ellinger said RSL would have taken Torres in the first round if Chivas had picked Williams.

Certainly, Ellinger is pleased to have Countess in goal. A product of Ellinger's U-17 National Team training program, Countess has been in the league three years and became the starter for the Dallas Burn in 2003.

"I know him very well," Ellinger said.

RSL also picked Columbus Crew defender Nelson Akwari in the fifth round. He was also tutored by Ellinger.

"I never thought I would get the opportunity to coach him again, but I'm excited that I get to now," Ellinger said.

Kreis, 31, now is the second-oldest player with Real after the team's fourth-round pick of Brian Kamler, a New England Revolution midfielder with two MLS Cup titles from his time with D.C. United. Kamler, 32, will be with his fifth MLS team next season.

Pegged to be the player Ellinger would build his team around, Kreis was hardly worried about being a leader of the players selected.

"Looking at the draft, there was not one person I was fearful of leading or of being a teammate of," Kreis said.

With the draft over, RSL now must fill the rest of its 28 roster openings. The team will select first in January's SuperDraft, but Pastorino is hoping he can add Clint Mathis before then. Mathis now is playing in Germany, but played in the MLS before this last year and also was with the U.S. National Team.

Hannover 96, his current team, has made it clear Mathis has no future there.

"[Mathis] has made it clear that he would like to play in MLS," Pastorino said. If the league can sign him after the Jan. 1 transfer window opens, chances are good RSL will claim him first.

RSL Draft

2004 Expansion Draft Selections

Round Name Position 1 Andy Williams M Jamaican with a knack for assists 2 D.J. Countess GK Promising backstop familiar with Ellinger 3 Pablo Brenes M Costa Rican that plays well on the left 4 Brian Kamler M Won MLS Cups with D.C. in '96 and '97 5 Nelson Akwari D A star of Ellinger's youth programs 6 Chris Brown F May have more chances to start now 7 Matt Behncke D Should get along well with Kreis 8 Rusty Pierce D A slide-tackling, intimidating defender 9 Kevin Ara M Earned All-Ivy League honors at Harvard 10 Erick Scott F Costa Rican often called up to National team