STANFORD, Calif. – Brandon Vincent, Eric Verso and Ty Thompson were among 59 NCAA Division I college players invited to participate in the 2016 adidas MLS Player Combine, Major League Soccer announced last week.
Top collegiate players from across the country will showcase their talents in front of representatives from all 20 MLS clubs in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Jan. 7-12, 2016. All invited players will be eligible for selection in the 2016 SuperDraft, presented by adidas, which will take place on Thursday, Jan. 14, in Baltimore. A committee of MLS coaches and NCAA Division I coaches from every conference selected the invitees, all of whom completed their college eligibility this season.
A MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist and the 2015 Pac-12 Men’s Soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Vincent anchored Stanford’s back line over the past four years, starting in each and every one of his 80 appearances. The two-time captain also claimed back-to-back Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year honors and is the only person to ever win the award, which was instituted last season. On Dec. 10, he was named a Senior CLASS Second Team All-American and a day later he earned his second consecutive nod as an NSCAA First Team All-American.
Third on the team in goals (6) and fifth in points (14), Vincent’s defensive work championed a Stanford unit that finished sixth in the nation in goals against average (0.62). In August, he was called by U.S. Under-23 Men's National Team head coach Andi Herzog for the first College Identification Training Camp. Vincent scored the third goal for the U.S. in its 3-1 win over Club Tijuana's Segunda Premier Team, which wrapped camp on August 7.
Academically, Vincent was twice a Pac-12 all-academic selection and graduated two quarters early, finishing at the completion of the fall session.
Verso, named to the NSCAA All-Far West Region third team on Dec. 9, has his most successful season in his final year on The Farm. The midfielder finished tied for second nationally in total assists (13) and sixth in assists per game (0.57) with teammate Corey Baird. He punctuated his banner year with a goal and an assist in the national championship against Clemson and finished fourth on the team in points (17).
No Stanford player had racked up 13 assists since Roger Levesque in 2002. Verso and Baird are tied with Levesque and Dan McNevin (1978) for fifth in Cardinal single-season history in that category. They become the first teammates since McNevin and Ted Rafalovich (23) in 1978 to each have at least 13 assists.
Verso, also a CoSIDA Third Team Academic All-American in 2015, is tied with Angel Vazquez (1981-85) for career assists at Stanford with 19.
Thompson co-captained the Cardinal along with Vincent to the first NCAA title in program history with a headline-grabbing senior campaign. The economics major was named to the NSCAA All-Far West Region first team and the All-Pac-12 first team. In addition to this NSCAA academic honor, Thompson was also a CoSIDA Academic All-District pick and made the Pac-12 All-Academic first team.
He finished his career with nine assists and on Thursday became the 14th NSCAA Academic All-American in Stanford history when he was named an NSCAA Scholar Second Team All-American, the first for the Cardinal since 2010.
Stanford men’s soccer won the first national championship in the program’s 102-year history on Dec. 13, defeating Clemson, 4-0, at Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kan. The Cardinal extended its streak of at least one NCAA team championship to 40 years, on ongoing record, while earning its 108th NCAA team title and 129th overall.