Events for Alex Bono, the Baldwinsville-based goalkeeper sensation, have accelerated right from the moment he announced that he was foregoing his senior year at Syracuse University to turn professional.
First, there was an invitation by coach Jurgen Klinsmann, who led the United States to a round of 16 appearance at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, to the U.S. Senior National Team’s training camp, which gives him a chance to go to Brazil himself and compete in the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Less than a week later, on Thursday afternoon, Bono, while at the national team camp, found out that he was the sixth overall pick by Toronto FC, and the first goalie selected, in the Major League Soccer SuperDraft, held in Philadelphia.
There was enough history with the selection to the U.S. National Team. No Central New York player had received it since Sigbert Wirth, who played in the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia.
Bono’s success was contagious, at least in the MLS SuperDraft. Five selections after he was chosen, his one-time Orange teammate, Skylar Thomas, went 11th overall, also to Toronto FC.
All of this traces back to Baldwinsville, where Bono was a standout goalie for the varsity soccer Bees and won four straight Section III Class AA championships from 2008 to 2011, and twice reached the state final four.
Then, with a choice of colleges from across the nation, Bono chose to stay at home and attend SU, and was the centerpiece of coach Iai McIntyre’s rebuilding process that produced quick dividends.
Starting as a true freshman in 2012, Bono led SU on an unlikely run to the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 16, where it lost to Georgetown. Then, after a solid sophomore year, Bono would take his play to another level last fall.
At one point, the Orange reached the top spot in a national ranking for the first time in program history. Bono recorded 12 shutouts during SU’s 16-4-1 season, which agian led to the NCAA Round of 16 and, again, ended in a disappointing defeat at Georgetown.
Between the shutouts, goals-against-average (0.55) and minutes played (1,949), Bono set three school records, and then was nominated as a finalist for the MAC Hermann Trophy as national player of the year.
