Bruce Arena feels ‘very fortunate” that Edward Kizza dropped to 24th overall

In 2020, the New England Revolution could have used a few more goals. It appears that Bruce Arena and the club are still focused on fixing that issue with their first round selection of Edward Kizza in the 2020 MLS SuperDraft.

The 22-year-old out of the University of Pittsburgh is a goal scorer. In 53 appearances over three seasons, Kizza scored 31 goals. In 2019 he finished fourth in the ACC in goals and fifth in points. Kizza also made the ACC Freshman Team in 2017.

Arena described Kizza as “a proven goal scorer the collegiate level.” The Head Coach and Sporting Director also didn't rule out Kizza and Francois Dulysse (New England’s other selection in the SuperDraft) having an impact on the first team roster after mentioning the success of Henry Kessler in 2020.

While Kizza clearly has the on the field ability, his college career ended rather abruptly. He ended up leaving the team in 2020 after just a few games.

A statement from the University of Pittsburgh indicated that he was “no longer with the University of Pittsburgh Men’s Soccer Program.” and that “no further statement will be given at this time.”

Ives Galarcep of SBI Soccer called the pick “an absolute steal” but also mentioned that “some teams stayed away due to the issues that led to his departure from PITT.”

Arena was asked about Kizza leaving Pitt on Thursday and said that the club didn’t have any concerns about the departure.

“We did background work with his coach who I have known for 20 years,” Arena said. “Jay Vidovich, one of the outstanding people in college soccer and an excellent coach. I trust his word. And, I checked with other coaches and the player (Kizza) came out with good grades. He is a very good player and we feel very fortunate that we got him as late as we did in the first round. So I think we got a little bit of luck with this draft pick. He graduated from Pitt in December. So he is going to come in and be ready for preseason.”

In October, Vidovich said that Kizza was in good standing at Pitt when answering a question from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Craig Meyer. “He didn’t desert the program or anything like that. He’s just dealing with other responsibilities.”

So it’s clear that the Revolution and Arena are excited about what Kizza can bring to the table. Especially after last season can you ever have too many goalscorers?