Eleven of Real Salt Lake-Arizona’s U-18 players made commitments to attend college in 2015 on Wednesday, with some of college soccer’s heavy hitters on the list.
Each year in the NCAA Tournament and at the MLS SuperDraft, the names of UCLA, Maryland, Louisville and Creighton are among the more prominent schools. They will also welcome players from the RSL-AZ Academy in the fall, continuing a great run of success from the Casa Grande, Arizona-based program.
With Erik Holt and Jose Hernandez both bound for UCLA, the Bruins work to restock their squad that reached the 2014 College Cup final. Meanwhile, commitments to Maryland by Amar Sejdic and to Louisville by Tate Schmitt, along with Evan Waldrep enrolling early at Creighton University go to highlight the class for RSL-AZ.
Below is the full list of RSL-AZ Academy players who signed Letters of Intent on Wednesday.
Luis Barraza, Marquette University
Jose Hernandez, University of California, Los Angeles
Aaron Herrera, University of New Mexico
Christian Herrera, California State University, Bakersfield
Erik Holt, University of California, Los Angeles
Joel Kazhila, University of Nebraska Omaha
Andres Lopez, Fort Lewis College
Martin Lopez, Fort Lewis College
Tate Schmitt, University of Louisville
Amar Sejdic, University of Maryland
Evan Waldrep, Creighton University
U.S. U-18s finish Mexico trip with 5-1 friendly win
The U.S. U-18s fell 1-0 to Universidad Catolica de Chile in the final Group Stage match of the 2015 Copa Chivas tournament on Tuesday, eliminating them from the tournament with a 1-2-1 record in the five-team group. However, the trip wasn't done and the U.S. came back on Thursday to post a 5-1 win over Urawa to close out the trip.
Waldrep started in the friendly match, playing 53 minutes on the back line. Meanwhile Sebastian Saucedo and Brooks Lennon combined on a goal in the 59th minute, just six minutes after the two products of the RSL-AZ Academy entered the match. Saucedo, who is signed to Real Salt Lake, set up Lennon, currently playing for the U-18s in Casa Grande, for the goal to put the U.S up 4-0.
