MLS Draft 2015: Fire select Matt Polster with 7th pick

With the seventh pick in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft, the Chicago Fire have selected Matt Polster, a stout-tackling defender who played his college ball at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville.

While not a prominent name in the awareness of MLS fandom, Polster is a known quantity to the Chicago Fire technical staff. Not only did he play for four years just a few hours downstate, but he also played with the Chicago Fire PDL team last summer. 'Connection to the badge' has been a consistent theme in the club's offseason acquistions, and this continues that theme. The potential benefits of this strategy were on display in Polster's draft speech, a tearful soliliquy.

It could be that a strong showing at the MLS Combine forced the Fire's hand with this pick. Playing at both defensive midfield and center defense in the exhibition league, Polster was calm, authoritative, and clean with the ball at his feet. As the Fire have need of both centerback depth and a guy who can play destroyer, Polster's skill set lines up nicely.

The Men in Red are left with one pick today: The seventh pick of the second round, 28th overall.