Ernesto Carranza, a former player for the Sacramento State men’s soccer team, lost his shot at a dream when the professional soccer team that drafted him in January released him.

Carranza, 21, was taken as the 22nd overall pick on Jan. 18 in the 2011 Supplemental Draft by Major League Soccer team Chivas USA.Carranzacould not be reached for comment.

He was one of the most accomplished, if not one of the best, offensive players to ever play for Sac State.

“He (Carranza) was a fantastic player here,” said Sac State men’s soccer coach Michael Linenberger. “For me, he’s one of those special guys that has talent and abilities on the offensive side of the ball, that as a coach, you don’t really teach.

“Over his four-year career at Sac State, Carranza achieved 20 career assists, played in 82 matches, and started 81 career-matches – all schools records. Carranza is also second all-time with 54 career points and is tied for fourth in career goals with 18.

“He’s phenomenal on the ball,” Linenberger said, “very fun to watch, very creative and has unbelievable attacking skill.”

All of the skills that he has shown, however, were not enough for the MLS team to keep a roster spot open for him.

“I think he’s a talented player who has some good abilities on the ball,” said Chivas USA head coach Robin Fraiser. “He’s an extremely fit player, and these are all very good qualities. At the end of the day, he’s probably similar to players we already had and that’s the biggest reason why we didn’t keep him.”

Carranza told Linenberger the coaches at Chivas USA were very happy with him. Carranza was able to get past the preliminary cuts but was released in the final cut before training camp, said Joe Waltasti, Sac State assistant media relations director.

Carranza’s status as a Mexican national may have contributed to the reason for his being cut from the team, Linenberger said. Each MLS team is allowed to keep only a limited amount of foreign players on their rosters.

“It’s difficult for a college student who is not a U.S. citizen because they usually reserve those positions for high-paid foreign players,” Linenberger said. “If he was a U.S. citizen, he would probably still be there.”

Linenberger said finding a replacement for Carranza will be difficult because of how he had such a key role for the team

“He’s going to be a big loss of us,” Linenberger said.Carranzais enrolled as a student at Sac State, but is ineligible to play for the men’s soccer team after already playing his four years.

“You just don’t replace a guy like him. In my opinion, we’ve had one Ernesto in the 22 years I’ve been here. We’ve had other good guys, but he’s special. We’re going to have a little bit of a different look next year in our team. It’s a big hole for sure.”

While he may not be making his MLS debut in a Chivas USA jersey, he is still seeking a professional soccer team to play with.

“It wouldn’t do him any good to be on a team and be on the bench all the time. The best thing for him would be to find an opportunity where he can play games, continue to play games and continue to develop that way,” Frasier said.

Carranzais in talks with his agent to see if he can find a MLS team that would give him a roster spot.

“He’s got those abilities, that for me, people pay to watch him play,” Linenberger said. “I would go pay and watch him play anytime, anywhere, anyplace.”

You can reach Anthony Honrade at [email protected]