Toronto FC lost Chris Pozniak to the San Jose Earthquakes in Major League Soccer's expansion draft on Wednesday.

Pozniak, a Toronto native who can play either as a defender or midfielder, was the 10th and final player selected by San Jose, who became the Houston Dynamo for the 2006 MLS season and will return in 2008 as an expansion club.

Chris Pozniak (13) was picked up by the expansion Earthquakes.
(Mark Avery/Associated Press)

"We're disappointed to lose a utility player like Pozniak," Toronto head coach Mo Johnston said. "The chances are high you're going to lose a player in the expansion draft, and unfortunately we've lost Poz. We're sorry to see him go."

Pozniak, 26, signed with Toronto last November and appeared in 22 games (16 as a starter) during the club's first season.

He joined Toronto after playing with FK Haugesund of the Norwegian First Division and Orebro of the Swedish Premier Division.

Before heading to Europe, Pozniak began his professional career with the United Soccer League’s Toronto Lynx in 1999.

Pozniak has competed at numerous levels for Canada, including on the under-23, under-20 and senior national teams.

Most recently, he was named to the squad that competed at the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup this past summer.

San Jose was allowed to select 10 players from the other 13 MLS franchises, but could only select one player from each team, as per the rules of the draft.

Each team was allowed to protect 11 players.

Vancouver-born goalkeeper Pat Onstad, who on Sunday helped Houston win its second MLS Cup, was left unprotected by the Dynamos but was not taken.

The Colorado Rapids, Kansas City Wizards and Real Salt Lake were the only teams not to lose a player.

The players selected by San Jose were:

1. Ryan Cochrane (Houston Dynamo)
2. Clarence Goodson (FC Dallas)
3. Ned Grabavoy (Columbus Crew)
4. James Riley (New England Revolution)
5. Joseph Vide (New York Red Bulls)
6. Ivan Guerrero (Chicago Fire)
7. Brian Carroll (D.C. United)
8. Jason Hernandez (Chivas USA)
9. Gavin Glinton (L.A. Galaxy)
10. Pozniak

With files from the Canadian Press