Dayton Christian grad thrilled to get drafted by his favorite MLS team

That made his experience Tuesday all the more special. The Crew drafted Erlandson, a 2017 Dayton Christian graduate, with the 12th pick in the second round (the 40th overall pick) of the MLS SuperDraft.

Erlandson, a 6-foot-1, 175-pound defender, came home to Dayton from Bowling Green, where he’s played the last two seasons, to watch the draft with family and friends.

“It was crazy because the first round is streamed in the MLS draft,” Erlandson said, “but the second two rounds, you just have to watch the draft tracker. The list updates by itself. I’m just sitting there feeling a little anxious as you see more names kind of pop up on the list and yours isn’t coming. All of a sudden, one of my buddies is just like, ‘Oh, the Columbus Crew’s up next. Pay attention.’ We’re all looking at the screen, and I saw my name pop up on the screen, and I went crazy. The whole family went crazy. Everyone was at a loss for words, to be honest. Everyone was filled with emotion. It was pretty cool to see my name up on the on the TV on the list. It was just insane, to be honest.”

Erlandson will report for a physical Sunday. The team will hold training camp Jan. 18-28 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and then will train at Historic Crew Stadium, formerly called MAPFRE, from Feb. 1-6. It will have another preseason training camp Feb. 7-9 in Charleston, S.C.

The Crew launched a developmental team, Columbus Crew 2, in December. It will participate in Major League Soccer’s MLS NEXT Pro, a new league that starts play in March. That could be a landing spot for any of the four players the Crew drafted Tuesday, Crew 2 General Manager Corey Wray said in a video posted to the team’s website.

“While we’re always hoping that the players will be ready to step into the first team, I think it’s important to know that we also have time for these guys,” Wray said, “and for the first time in our history, we have a team for these types of players. When we get into preseason, and we make assessments on how everyone’s doing, the next step will be to see if there’s an opportunity for any of these guys on the second team. We did look with both eyes, I guess, towards the first team and the second team with these later picks.”

Erlandson’s arrival in professional soccer comes after a long road from Dayton Christian, where he had 97 goals and 56 assists in his career and was a two-time first-team All-Ohio section, to Bowling Green.

Erlandson started playing soccer when he was 3. His three brothers — two older and one younger — played as well. The family lived in Cleveland until he was 6 and then moved to Dayton. The brothers got involved with the Northern Warren County (NWC) Alliance Soccer Club and started working with a trainer, Brian Kohen.

“That’s kind of where it just took off,” Erlandson said. “I have an older brother who is 5 years older than me kind of show me the ropes. I fell in love with soccer and wanted to be like him. I just kept playing soccer. I played a couple other sports, too, but soccer was No. 1 always.”

Even with his high school success, Erlandson didn’t have any Division I scholarship offers.

“I didn’t go to a big academy,” he said. “I didn’t play with Columbus Crew Academy. I had some friends that did. My parents weren’t really into all that. They wanted to support the local clubs and have me with local friends on the local club team. I didn’t get that exposure. Then obviously going to a small, private Division III school, you don’t really get that exposure as well.”

Erlandson started his college career by playing three seasons at the NAIA level for Huntington University in Indiana. He was an All-American as a junior in 2019 and led a defense that posted seven shutouts while recording a NAIA-best seven game-winning goals.

During the summers, Erlandson played for the Dayton Dutch Lions, a USL2 team. The coach, Dan Griest, advised him to think about transferring to the Division I level. Erlandson announced in December 2019 he would transfer to Bowling Green. He also considered Dayton.

Erlandson started all 13 games in his first season at Bowling Green, was named to the All-Mid-American Conference first team and was named Bowling Green’s newcomer of the year.

This past fall, Erlandson helped lead Bowling Green to the NCAA tournament and a first-round victory against Louisville. He ranked 87th on the Top Drawer Soccer preseason list of top 100 players in the nation and was one of 44 players invited to the MLS College Soccer Showcase in December. That experience, as well as playing for the Flint City Bucks, another USL2 team, last summer convinced him he would have a chance to get drafted.

Erlandson thanked Bowling Green coach Eric Nichols for helping him in all phases.

“He’s developed me into not only a better player but a better person and a better man,” Erlandson said. “That almost is more important when it comes to playing professional: working on the mental side of it. I think I’ve always had the work ethic and the skill to play at the next level, but I think working on my mental side at BG and just becoming a leader and developing that side of my game, I feel really ready to take it to the next level. I’m not really too nervous about it. I’m just excited to show what I’ve got at the professional level.”