STANFORD, Calif. – Senior co-captains Tomas Hilliard-Arce and Drew Skundrich are two of 60 NCAA Division I college players invited to participate in the 2018 MLS adidas Player Combine, Major League Soccer announced Thursday.
Top collegiate players from across the country will showcase their talents in front of representatives from MLS clubs in Orlando from Jan. 11-17. All invited players will be eligible for selection in the 2018 SuperDraft, presented by adidas, which will take place on Jan. 19 in Philadelphia. 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.
The duo led Stanford to three national championships, four Pac-12 titles and a 65-10-13 overall record (.813) in their four years on The Farm.
Hilliard-Arce, the 2017 Top Drawer Soccer Player of the Year and a finalist for the MAC Hermann Trophy, is one of three two-time, first-team All-Americans in program history. A two-time Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, he championed a Cardinal defense that posted 47 shutouts among his 87 career appearances at center back. Stanford had a 0.59 team goals against average with Hilliard-Arce in the lineup and finished in the top 10 nationally that category each of the last three years, including second this season (0.382).
The Cardinal won each of its last two national championships without allowing a postseason goal and is in the midst of an NCAA-record run of 12 consecutive postseason shutouts spanning 1,214:20 of match time. A force on set pieces, Hilliard-Arce also finished his career with 13 goals and five assists, including four goals and three assists in 2017.
Skundrich a versatile, two-time team captain, was the midfield engine behind Stanford's championship dominance and had career highs in goals (5) and assists (5) as a senior in being named to the Top Drawer Soccer Best XI second team. He finished his career with nine goals and 13 career assists.
After starting all 23 games at right back during Stanford's 2015 championship run, Skundrich moved to the central midfield and started every match in the 2016 and 2017 title campaigns. He earned spots this year on the United Soccer Coaches All-Far West Region first team and All-Pac-12 first team.
Stanford has had four players attend the combine the past two seasons - Brian Nana-Sinkam, Ty Thompson, Eric Verso, Brandon Vincent - and each has been selected in the MLS SuperDraft, including two in the first round (Vincent – 2016 - Chicago; Nana-Sinkam – 2017 – Seattle).
