Minnesota United made their first trade of the summer break on Thursday, sending midfielder Bryan Arguez to the Carolina Railhawks in exchange for midfielder Floyd Franks.

Arguez, 24, signed with Minnesota in the offseason to try to get his career on track, but injuries – especially a hamstring that kept him out of most of the preseason and the beginning of the regular season – prevented him from ever really settling in with United. In the end, he played the equivalent of four and a half matches for Minnesota, without scoring a goal or racking up an assist.

Franks, meanwhile, started ten games for Carolina in the spring season, scoring three goals along the way. Like Arguez, he’s a veteran of second-division soccer in America; the 29-year-old has played most of the past four seasons for Carolina, and also spent time with the now-defunct Cleveland City Stars, prior to being with the RailHawks.

Franks was the team captain for Carolina this spring, and has played mostly as a holding midfielder, according to Neil Morris, who covers the Railhawks for Indy Week. Franks can also fill in at right back if needed; from Minnesota’s point of view, he might be just the player they’re looking for to fill some of the defensive gaps that plagued their midfield in the spring season.

According to Morris, Carolina head coach Colin Clarke was strongly interested in signing Arguez in the offseason, but coudn’t match the financial terms that Minnesota was offering. For most of the spring season, the RailHawks played two holding midfielders, in Franks and Nick Millington; Arguez may play more of an offensive role for the team.

Said United head coach Manny Lagos, via press release, “[Franks] is a tough nose two-way midfielder and he’s going to provide a lot of the leadership that we want in the middle of the field.”

Of Arguez, Lagos said, “It never really got off the way he wanted to. The environment was kind of a cool spring and he’s a southern guy. We didn’t quite get him going the way we wanted to. You always want things to work out but sometimes they don’t.”

In Franks, United has their third new midfielder of the summer break, after signing Calum Mallace and Sinisa Ubiparipovic on loan from Montreal. They’ll have just a few weeks to integrate all three into the setup, before the fall season begins August 3.

During the spring season, Minnesota players and coaches spoke of the need for the team, with so many new players, needing to get to know each other before they could be successful. In some ways, the summer break – and at least three new players – means that this process will have to begin all over again.

Shattuck-St. Mary’s is well-known for their hockey program, having hosted Sidney Crosby and Zach Parise during their younger years. This year, its soccer program made some waves, as well.

The Sabres’ soccer teams play in the US Soccer Federation Development Academy, a group of 78 youth clubs from across the country that function as the highest level of youth soccer in America; S-SM and the metro-area Minnesota Thunder Academy are the only two local teams in the league.

This year, S-SM’s U-17/18 team made it all the way to the national finals, where they lost an overtime heartbreaker to the New York Red Bulls youth academy, 2-1. Lesley Nchanji, the Sabres’ second-leading scorer this year, gave Shattuck a 1-0 lead in the 10th minute, but Ethan Decker evened things up for NYRB twenty minutes later.

The game went to extra time, and though S-SM striker Michael Bajza forced a couple of saves in the first half of overtime, it was NYRB’s Jhon Estama who got the game-winner in the second half, pouncing on a rebound in the 115th minute to score the decider.

It was the second time in the league’s six seasons that the finals went to overtime; the 2008 final also ended after an extra half-hour. The Red Bulls’ win gave them their second title in as many seasons, and were the #1 seed in the playoffs.

It was a successful 2012-13 season for the Fairbault prep school. After winning the U-17/18 Mid-American Division going away, Shattuck stormed through the playoffs to earn a berth in the national finals, where two wins and a draw were good enough to secure a place in the championship match. The Sabres entered their final Group 2 match, with De Anza Force, needing only a draw to win the group and play for the championship, and took a 2-1 lead into the last quarter of the match. De Anza evened the scores thanks to a SSM own goal – but the Sabres hung on for the final 15 minutes for a 2-2 draw, leading to their final matchup with NYRB.

It’s worth noting that Bajza is one of two players on the S-SM roster with a listed college committment; the team’s leading scorer, he is headed for North Carolina State in the fall. The other is defender Vladis Upmalis, a Latvia native who’s played three times for his country’s national U-17 team; Upmalis is committed to UW-Green Bay.

Wednesday, Minnesota United announced a pair of players from Major League Soccer’s Montreal Impact would join the team on loan for the fall season – one of whom is a local product. Midfielder Calum Mallace, originally from Scotland, moved to Minnesota as a youngster, and started for Henry Sibley HS for five years. He also played two seasons with the Woodbury Predators club team under head coach Don Gramenz, a former Minnesota Thunder player, and his brother Craig is a Thunder alumnus, as well.

The 23-year-old didn’t have to wait to make his debut, after arriving in town Tuesday night – he came on as a substitute and played the final half-hour for United. Said Mallace, “I remember coming here all those years when I was younger, watching the Thunder play, and now I’m here – so that’s something special.”

Head coach Manny Lagos was equally excited to have Mallace in the squad. “Calum is young in his pro career, and has shown some serious promise at Montreal,” he said. “I think it’s exciting for us to get a player like that, who is from here [in Minnesota], on the roster.”

Mallace was the 2011 Big East Midfielder of the Year at Marquette, and was drafted by Montreal in 2012. He started four times for the Impact last year, but had struggled to find minutes this year, coming on as a sub twice.

“[Montreal] said they highly respect me and see a lot of value in me as a player,” said Mallace, “but with some of the experienced players we have on the team in Montreal, it’s no surprise I wasn’t getting many minutes, especially in the middle of the park – we have about eight midfielders, I think. It’s a positive for me, because they want me to get games and come back as a better player.”

Sinisa Ubiparipovic, a native of Bosnia & Herzegovina, struggled similarly for minutes in the Montreal midfield. He’s made 82 MLS appearances over six years in the league, the first four with New York, the last two with Montreal. He’s a University of Akron product, where he was conference MVP in 2006, when he also was named to the All-American team for the second year running.

He wasn’t in attendance for Wednesday’s game, but Lagos was looking forward to adding him to the team, as well. “I know him pretty well,” said the coach. ” I’ve always followed his career in MLS, and in our league as well. We’re excited to get somebody with his experience to add to the team and try to get better.”

Both players can be recalled to Montreal by August 8, if needed, but if either is still here on that date, they’re here for the duration of the fall season.

Another player to watch is defender Logan Emory, who started at center back on Wednesday night and played the full 90 minutes. Emory was released by Toronto near the end of June, after making 22 appearances for the MLS side over the past two years. He’s a second-division veteran, having spent two years with the now-(mostly-)defunct Puerto Rico Islanders before catching on with Toronto.

Emory, who is still on trial and hasn’t signed for United, was looking forward to trying to turn things around after his release. “It’s difficult, but I need to be playing soccer, and Minnesota’s given me the opportunity to do that,” he said. “I’ve just got to get my head right and get ready for the season and help win a championship. Playing time would be nice, but winning is the most important thing.”

Jamaican international winger Omar Daley was also on the field for United for the final 20 minutes of the match on Wednesday. Daley, who has played 50 times for his country, spent parts of eight seasons playing for various clubs in the English lower divisions, and played the last two years for Motherwell in the Scottish Premier League.

Other triallists in uniform on Wenesday included former West Virginia University forward Uwem Etuk, Brazilian forward Allisson Faramilio, veteran USL Pro forward Aaron King, and a young striker named Bruno Borba, who if nothing else has a great name.