Rusty Pierce

Football player infobox| playername= Rusty Pierce
fullname = Rusty Pierce
nickname =


dateofbirth = birth date and age|1979|7|24
cityofbirth = The Woodlands, Texas
countryofbirth = U.S.
height = 5'10
currentclub = unattached
clubnumber =
position = defender
youthyears = 1997-99
youthclubs = UNC-Greensboro
years = 2000-04 2005 2006-07
clubs = New England Revolution Real Salt Lake Columbus Crew
caps(goals) = 113 (0) 15 (0) 39 (0)
nationalyears =
nationalteam =
nationalcaps(goals) =
pcupdate = 13 January, 2008
ntupdate = 4 December, 2006

Rusty Pierce (born July 24, 1979 in The Woodlands, Texas) is an American soccer defender.

Pierce played college soccer at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro from 1997 to 1999, appearing in 51 games during his time there. Following his junior season, Pierce signed a Project-40 contract with MLS, entering the 2000 MLS SuperDraft, where he was selected 14th overall by the New England Revolution.

As a rookie, Pierce quickly earned a place in the Revolution starting lineup with his tenacious defending, and finished the season second on the team in minutes played, having started in 29 of the team's 32 games. Pierce remained a constant in the New England backline for the next four years when healthy, although injuries limited his playing time in the 2002 and 2004 seasons.

Following the 2004 season, Pierce's impending free agency led the Revolution to leave him unprotected for the 2004 MLS Expansion Draft, where he was selected in the eighth round by Real Salt Lake. After the 2005 season, his rights were traded to the Crew - where he played 2 years before finishing his career in December 2007. Pierce currently is a co-owner of [http://www.solidfoundationinvestments.com Solid Foundation Investments] and works as a real estate broker for [http://www.waterbridgesc.com/ Waterbridge ] in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Pierce has played for United States national team at a number of youth levels, but is currently uncapped at the senior level.

References