Sivert Haugli Selected 83rd Overall by Portland Timbers in 2022 MLS SuperDraft

By Ishan Lamba

Staff Writer

January 12, 2022

Another Hokies veteran made the transition to the bright lights of the pros Tuesday evening.

Less than a month removed from Emily Gray’s selection to the North Carolina Courage, Sivert Haugli, the Hokies’ veteran defender and captain, was selected 83rd overall by the Portland Timbers in the 2022 MLS SuperDraft.

Originally from Oslo, Norway, Haugli was introduced to the beautiful game from a young age, as his father was also a center back for Hamarkameratne, a club in the Norwegian top-flight.

Haugli played in multiple developmental academies before coming to Tech in 2018. He started in all 72 games he played in and logged over 1500 minutes in 2020-21. The pandemic affected season was also when he scored his first career goal in a 2-0 victory over Coastal Carolina.

During the summer of 2021, Haugli also played semi-professionally for the Des Moines Menace in USL2, where they won the championship 2-0 over Portland Timbers U23.

Defined by his height and calmness under pressure, the Timbers could use a player like Haugli.

An expansion team that began play in 2011, the Timbers are playoff regulars and have enjoyed plenty of recent success. They won the MLS Cup back in 2015 in a 2-0 win over the Columbus Crew.

After losing in the 2018 championship to Atlanta United, the Timbers won the “MLS is Back” Tournament, a tournament created to restart action after the initial shutdown from the COVID-19 pandemic.

This past season, the Timbers were once again able to reach the finals, but fell to penalty kicks at home against NYCFC.

For an already strong defensive team, whose “Goals Allowed” have been on a steady decline since the 2016 season, Haugli provides important depth to a unit that already boasts Larrys Mabiala, Dario Župarić, and Bill Tuiloma, among others.

Portland also drafted defensemen Justin Rasmussen from Grand Canyon University and Julian Bravo from Santa Clara in the first and second rounds, so expect Haugli to compete for a roster spot in the coming weeks.