Dodson played collegiately at North Carolina and the University of Denver. The 23-year-old forward from Libertyville, Illinois was part of the Tar Heels squad that lifted the 2011 NCAA College Cup before transferring to Colorado for his sophomore year.
He spent the 2015 season in Sweden with IFK Stockaryd/Rörviks IF.
ROSTER EXPANDS
These are clearly a moves that will provide more depth to an already strong midfield and to what seems to what will be a mostly refurbished back line.
In what little I’ve seen on video, Bissue seems to be the kind of player that can distribute the ball well from the central midfield, and the 6-foot Dodson may provide left side presence kind of like Tyler Pasher brought to the Hounds a year ago.
The two signings bring the Riverhounds total roster to 15, including eight new players.
With most MLS rosters being finalized in the next week or so, the Riverhounds, and other USL teams may be waiting to sign a few more players after those round of cuts. Last week, I was told that the Hounds would like to bring this total to 20 players signed, in addition to the players who will be on loan from Columbus Crew via affiliation.
In case you are trying to keep track, the players who were on the Hounds roster, who have not reported signing for any other team yet this year include: Miroslav Čabrilo, Seth C’deBaca, Matthew Dallman, Michael Green, Danny Earls (2015 captain), Kene Eze, Tyler Pasher, Jereme Raley, Amara Soumah, Max Touloute, Anthony Virgara, and Fejiro Okiomah.
It appears that Boris Zivanovic, who played 10 games for the Hounds last season, signed for Slovanian club FC Koper.
ROB VINCENT / DC UNITED UPDATE
In addition, the Hounds might be preparing for the prospects of losing last season’s top goal scorer Rob Vincent.
We will be watching what transpires with Vincent as he has made it past the first wave of roster cuts while on trial with the D.C. United. The United will begin all competition play on Feb. 23 when they play Querétaro in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions Cup.
This week, D.C. United Head Coach Ben Olsen shared his thoughts with Washington Post’s Soccer Insider, Steven Goff on Vincent:
“He has been sharp,” Olsen said, “but there is a lot of competition for roster spots.”
The second stage of the preseason starts Thursday for the United, as they return to Florida and will play friendlies against the Tampa Bay Rowdies, Philadelphia Union, and Montreal Impact.