July 23, 2009

Listen to Spartan Sports Podcasts
Former Spartan Raushawn McKenzie

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Former Michigan State men's soccer player Rauwshan McKenzie made his professional debut with the Kansas City Wizards on July 7 against the Seattle Sounders FC. This also marked McKenzie's first career start with the Wizards. Having started the last two games, McKenzie looks to start this coming weekend against David Beckham and the LA Galaxy on Saturday, July 25 at 8 p.m. The game can be seen on ESPN2 and Metro Sports.

"It was nice," noted McKenzie. "I didn't get much time my first year, so it was a lot of learning and watching the guys on the field. To actually get out there with the first-team was pretty special for me. My family came out for the game, so it was very important for me."

The following game against the New England Revolution on July 11, McKenzie was called upon by head coach Curt Onalfo to fill the void left by defender Jimmy Conrad, who is playing with the United States National Team, and make his second consecutive start on defense.

"For me, it just shows that my coach has a lot of confidence in me, to get a start like that against a good team. It was really cool to get out there and experience something like that," McKenzie added.

Click here to listen to the full McKenzie interview with MSUSpartans.com.