SANDY, Utah (Thursday, November 17, 2016) – Real Monarchs SLC added a pair of USL veteran forwards on Thursday to bolster the attack for the 2017 USL season, also bringing in midfield depth as the club prepares for its third season in the USL. The Monarchs signed FW Chandler Hoffman – who finished fourth in the USL with 14 goals in 2016 – FW Daniel Haber and MF Chase Minter, pending USL and federation approval.
“As we evaluated our club in 2016, we had a need for a top-flight goal-scorer and to add players with professional experience to our roster,” Real Salt Lake General Manager Craig Waibel said. “Chandler Hoffman has been a consistent scorer in this league that we feel can raise our level of play. Daniel Haber has played here and overseas and comes with a lot of potential to make an impact on the wings and Chase Minter is a guy that can increase the level of competition for starting midfield spots.”
Hoffman, 26, played four seasons in Major League Soccer before landing with Louisville City FC in 2016. The Birmingham, Alabama, native excelled collegiately with UCLA before leaving early for the MLS SuperDraft in 2012, where he was selected 13th overall by the Philadelphia Union. Over the course of four seasons, he played 20 MLS regular season matches with the Union (2012), LA Galaxy (2013-2014) and Houston Dynamo (2015). He spent the 2014 season on loan to LA Galaxy II, where he finished third in the USL with 13 goals in 17 matches. In 2015, he added four goals in 10 matches while on loan with the Colorado Springs Switchbacks before making the permanent move to the USL with Louisville City in 2016. There he was fourth in the league with 14 goals in 28 appearances before scoring one goal in three playoff matches to help push his club to the Eastern Conference Final.
Haber, 24, played the 2016 season with Vancouver Whitecaps FC II after playing the previous four seasons in Israel and Cyprus. The Canadian international was a First-Team All-American, Ivy League Player of the Year and a finalist for the MAC Hermann Trophy during his junior season at Cornell University. He decided to forgo his senior season to sign with Maccabi Haifa in 2013, following that up with stints at Apollon Limassol and Ayia Napa in Cyprus and Hapoel Nir Ramat HaSharon in Israel. In his first season in the USL, he notched seven goals and four assists in 30 regular season matches for Vancouver, also adding one goal in three matches to help the Whitecaps reach the Western Conference Final. Haber made his international debut with Canada in 2013 and has five caps to his credit.
Minter, 24, just completed his first professional season after a four-year collegiate career at Cal-Poly San Luis Obispo. A native of Rowell, Texas, Minter was drafted in the second round, 21st overall, of the 2016 MLS SuperDraft by Columbus Crew SC and signed with the Sacramento Republic. In August, he was sent on loan to the Tulsa Roughnecks and between the two USL clubs he logged nine appearances on the season, six with Sacramento and three with Tulsa.
The 2017 USL season kicks off in April. Season Tickets for the Real Monarchs third season in 2017 are now on sale; please call 844.Real.Tix for more information.
Coming in late Summer, 2017, Real Salt Lake's regional training center opens in Herriman, Utah, approximately 20 minutes southeast of Rio Tinto Stadium.
The $50 million facility will serve as the daily training home beginning in 2018 for both of the club's professional teams - RSL (MLS) and Real Monarchs (USL) - while centralizing the club's U-18, U-16 and future U-14 development academy youth selections.
The Herriman facility will provide adjacencies for an on-site charter school opening in Fall, 2018, with STEM disciplines (Science/Technology/Engineering/Math) for nearly 300 boys and girls.
On Monday in North Logan, Utah, RSL Owner Dell Loy Hansen broke ground on the first of a half-dozen regional training centers across Utah and Arizona to be built in the next 2-3 years. Each $5 million RTC houses a classroom, as well as an indoor and outdoor field, dedicated to fulfilling a curriculum dedicated to the club's vision and mission for youth soccer training and education, and the continued development of both recreational and competitive pre-Academy (ages 7-12) initiatives across Utah and Arizona.
