Joshua Yara – Georgetown – Santa Barbara, California – Yaro was a force for the Hoyas for three seasons under head coach Brian Wiese. He was an All-American selection in 2014 and 2015 and the unanimous Big East Defender of the Year in 2014 and 2015. He was also a team captain and First Team NSCAA Scholar All-American in 2015. Georgetown was 44-10-11 overall during his three year tenure, earned a berth and and a national seed in the NCAA Tournament each season, and won the Big East Tournament for the first time in program history in 2015. They advanced to the Elite Eight in 2014 and to the Sweet Sixteen in 2013 and 2015.
Tim Kubel – Louisville – Stuttgart, Germany – Kubel had a stellar four season career for the Cardinals under head coach Ken Lolla. He was a First Team All-American and Hermann Trophy semifinalist in 2017 and 2016, an All-ACC First Team selection in 2015 and the ACC Freshman of the Year in 2014. Louisville earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament in 2014, 2016 and 2017 and advanced to the Elite Eight in 2016 and 2017. Kubel was a key contributor on both sides of the ball for the Cardinals with 21 career goals and 26 career assists.
Tanner Beason – Stanford – Winston Salem, North Carolina – Beason was a key ingredient in a Stanford team that won national championships in 2016 (redshirt freshman) and 2017 (redshirt sophomore) and Pac-12 Championships in 2016, 2017 and 2018 (redshirt senior) under head coach Jeremy Gunn. He started a total of 81 games from 2016 through 2019. Beason was a United Soccer Coaches and College Soccer News All-America First Team selection, a MAC Hermann Trophy Semifinalist and team captain in 2018 and 2019. He was a left back in 2016 and 2017 and center back in 2018 and 2019. The Cardinal were 60-14-5 overall during his four-year tenure.
Andrew Gutman – Indiana – Hinsdale, Illinois – Gutman was a stellar four-year starter for the Hoosiers from 2015 through 2018 and a four-year All-Big Ten selection. He was the MAC Hermann Trophy winner and a First-Team United Soccer Coaches and College Soccer News All-American as a senior in 2018 and a United Soccer Coaches and College Soccer News Second Team All-American in 2017. He also contributed 20 career goals with 17 career assists including 11 goals and 9 assists during the 2018 season. The Hoosiers won both the Big 10 regular season and tournament titles in 2018. During Gutman’s tenure in Bloomington Indiana won a total of 63 games and advanced to the College Cup in 2017 and 2018.
Kyle Hiebert – Missouri State – La Salle, Manitoba, Canada – Hiebert started a total of 96 games for the Bears from 2017 through 2021 under head coach Jon Leamy who retired at the end of the 2021 season after 30 years as the Missouri State head coach. Missouri State only allowed a total of 47 goals over five seasons during Hiebert’s time in Springfield. He was named a United Soccer Coaches and College Soccer News All-American in 2019, 2020 and 2021. Hiebert was a three-time MVC Defensive Player of the Year and a MAC Hermann Trophy Semifinalist in 2020 and 2021. The Bears earned the MVC regular season title in 2021, 2020 and 2019, the MAC Tournament title in 2021 and 2020, and earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament in 2019, 2020 and 2021.
Thomas Hilliard-Arce – Stanford – Matthews, North Carolina – Hillard-Acre was a four-year starter at center back for Stanford from 2014 through 2017 during which the Cardinal won the National Championship from 2015 through 2017. He was a United Soccer Coaches All-American and College Soccer News First Team All-American, a MAC Herman Trophy Finalist and the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year in 2016 and 2017. Hilliard-Acre was an All-Pac 12 Second Team selection in his freshman and sophomore seasons and a First-Team selection as a junior and a senior. He had 13 career goals and 5 career assists. Hilliard-Arce was a key ingredient in a tenacious Stanford defense that had a 0.89 gaa in 2014, a 0.65 gaa in 2015, a 0.61 gaa in 2016 and a 0.30 gaa in 2017.
Jasper Loeffelsend – Pittsburgh – Cologne, Germany – Loeffelsend was an impact player for the Panthers on both sides of the ball during a two-year tenure at Pitt in 2020 and 2021 during which time he had two career goals and 18 career assists and was named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons becoming the first player to do that since Ike Opara from Wake Forest in 2008 and 2009. Loeffelsend was a United Soccer Coaches and College Soccer News All-American in 2020 and 2021 and a Hermann Trophy semifinalist. He helped Pitt advance to the Elite Eight in 2021 and to the College Cup for the first time in program history in 2020.
Brandon Vincent – Stanford – Valencia, California – Vincent was a four-year starter at left-back for Stanford from 2012 through 2015 during which time he stared 80 games and had 13 career goals and 3 assists. He was a force on the defensive side of the ball for the Cardinal who advanced to the College Cup in 2015 for the first time since the 2002 season and won the National Championship for the first time in program history in head coach Jeremy Gunn’s fourth season at the helm of the program. Vincent was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2015 College Cup, was a semifinalist for the 2015 Hermann Trophy, and was named an NSCAA and College Soccer News All-American as well as the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year in 2014 and 2015.
Garrison Tubbs – Wake Forest – Brunswick, Georgia – Tubbs was a four-year starter for the Demon Deacons under head coach Bobby Muuss with 70 career starts from 2020 through 2023. He was a team captain and leader, a United Soccer Coaches and College Soccer News First Team All-American, a MAC Hermann Trophy Finalist, and the ACC Defensive Player of the Year in 2023. Tubbs was also a United Soccer Coaches First Team Scholar All-American. In 2022 he was named to the United Soccer Coaches All-South Region First Team and was a College Soccer News All-Freshman First Team selection in 2020. The Demon Deacons punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament in each of the four seasons that he was on the pitch. Tubbs signed a Homegrown Contract with Atlanta United of the MLS at the conclusion of his senior season.
Grant Lillard – Indiana – Hinsdale, Illinois – Lillard was a four-year starter with a total of 86 starts from 2014 through 2017 under Hoosier head coach Todd Yeagley. In his senior season he anchored a rock solid Indiana defense along with then freshman goalkeeper Trey Muse that recorded 18 shutouts and only allowed a total of seven goals and advanced to the National Final. Lillard was a MAC Hermann Trophy Finalist, a United Soccer Coaches and College Soccer News All-American and the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year in 2017. He was a 2016 College Soccer News Second Team All-American and a All-Big Ten First Team selection in 2015, 2016 and 2017 and a College Soccer News All-Freshman First Team member in 2014. The Hoosiers earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament during each of the four seasons that he was in Bloomington.
Picture from Indiana University Athletics
