The LA Galaxy made two picks in today’s MLS SuperDraft gaining a defender and a midfielder with both being three-time National Champions at Stanford University.
With the second overall pick in the draft the Galaxy landed defender Tomas Hilliard-Arce. Hilliard-Arce is a three-time National Champion, two-time Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year and a two-time First Team All-Pac-12 player.
Over his four-year career at Standford, he made 87 appearances, scored 13 times and had five assists.
“It’s been a rollercoaster,” Hilliard-Arce told LAGalaxy.com. “Coming into Stanford, I wasn’t a top recruit so I wasn’t sure what my role on the team was going to be. But I had a lot of confidence and I knew I could compete. From there, it was a lot of success. Knowing that I still have that confidence and that will to succeed is something I’m hoping to bring to the Galaxy.”
Ranked as the number one prospect for most of the year, Hilliard-Arce is a center back who could make an impact on the Galaxy’s short-term defensive competitions.
At 22-years old and over six-feet tall, he’s got the physical makeup to be an MLS caliber defender.
“Tomas is a hard-as-nails defender that will run through a brick wall,” former LA Galaxy defender and Stanford Alumnist Todd Dunivant told CoG. “He has won an absurd amount of championships and is a guy you want in your team every week.”
Hilliard-Arce is designated as a Generation Adidas player which allows his salary to be exempt from the salary cap. He’s also listed as a domestic player – born in Matthews, North Carolina. Which is important as the Galaxy have eight of eight international slots already in use.
- Name: Tomas Hilliard-Arce
- Position: Defender
- Height: 6’1”
- Weight: 175 lbs.
- Born: November 22, 1995
- Age: 22
- Last Club: Stanford
- Birthplace: Matthews, North Carolina
- Nationality: United States
TOMAS HILLIARD-ARCE CAREER HIGHLIGHTS:
2017
- MAC Hermann Trophy finalist
- USC First Team All-American
- Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year
- College Cup Most Outstanding Defensive Player of the Year
- USC First Team All-Far West Region
- First Team All-Pac-12
- Pac-12 All-Academic Honorable Mention
2016
- College Cup All-Tournament Team
- USC First Team All-American
- Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year
- USC First Team All-Far West Region
- First Team All-Pac 12
- Pac-12 All-Academic Honorable Mention
2015
- Second Team All-Pac-12
- Pac 12 All-Academic Honorable Mention
2014
- USC Third Team All-Far West Region
- Second Team All-Pac 12 Conference
The Galaxy also drafted 22-year old midfielder Drew Skundrich with the 40th overall pick (17th pick in the 2nd round). Like Hilliard-Arce, Skundrich won three NCAA National Championships with Stanford and was a First Team All Pac-12 selections in his senior year.
Skundrich made 82 appearances for Standford, scoring 9 goals and tallying 13 assists in a four-year career.
“Drew does everything you need to win a game and doesn’t always get the credit he deserves,” Dunivant again relayed to CoG.
He’ll also be listed as a domestic player and was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Neither Hilliard-Arce nor Skundrich have been officially added to the roster. The Galaxy will still need to sign both players to a contract before that happens. And neither is guaranteed a spot on the team.
- Name: Drew Skundrich
- Position: Midfielder
- Height: 5’11”
- Weight: 165 lbs.
- Born: September 17, 1995
- Age: 22
- Last Club: Stanford
- Birthplace: Lancaster, Pennsylvania
- Nationality: United States
DREW SKUNDRICH CAREER HIGHLIGHTS:
2017
- USC First Team All-Far West Region
- First Team All-Pac-12
- Pac-12 Honorable Mention All-Academic
2016
- USC Second Team All-Far West Region
- Second Team All-Pac-12
- USC Scholar All-West Region
- Pac-12 Honorable Mention All-Academic
2015Second Team All-Pac-12
- Pac-12 All-Academic Second Team