Photo: Craig Bisacre/Indiana Athletics
The 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs kicked off with the two Wednesday night Wild Card games. Chicago Fire vs Orlando City in the Eastern Conference, and Portland Timbers vs Real Salt Lake in the West. All four teams included several players from the college soccer pathway, and they helped their teams secure the eighth and ninth playoff spots.
Here are the 13 players from the college pathway who played in the opening Wild Card games of the 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs:
Chicago Fire
Jonathan Dean – Wofford/UCF
Dean played his freshman year at Wofford, where he was named to the SoCon All-Freshman team. After his rookie campaign, the defender transferred to UCF, where he was named team captain for his final two years (2018 and 2019). During those two seasons, Dean led UCF to winning back-to-back regular-season Conference Titles in the American. Dean was drafted 39th overall by Orlando City in the 2020 MLS SuperDraft.
Joel Waterman – Trinity Western
Waterman played five seasons at Trinity Western and finished his college career as the Spartans’ team captain. TWU finished with Canada West medals in each of Waterman’s final three seasons (bronze in 2016, and silver in 2017 and 2018). Waterman signed an MLS contract with the Montreal Impact (now CF Montreal) after starting his professional career with Calvary FC in the Canadian Premier League.
Jack Elliott – West Virginia
Elliott played at West Virginia from 2013-16 accruing over 50 starts in his time there. He was drafted by the Philadelphia Union in the 4th Round of the 2017 MLS SuperDraft by the Philadelphia Union where he was a part of multiple historically good backlines.
Andrew Gutman – Indiana
Gutman (pictured above) will go down as one of the great college two-way defenders, making 90 starts over four seasons with Indiana with 37 goal contributions (20g/17a). His ability to play forward as a defender was on full display his senior year when he had 20 goal contributions (11g/9a) en route to winning the 2018 MAC Hermann Trophy, the most prestigious individual award in college soccer. After initially signing with Celtic, Gutman found himself back in the States and made his MLS debut for FC Cincinnati in 2019.
Orlando City
Duncan McGuire – Creighton
McGuire’s standout season at Creighton was in 2022, when he had 26 goal contributions (23g/3a) in 23 starts, leading NCAA Division I in goals. McGuire was selected 6th overall in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft by Orlando and was called up for the 2024 Olympics by the US men’s team.
Tyrese Spicer – Lipscomb
Spicer played four seasons for Lipscomb, making 57 appearances and 34 starts in his time there, while putting up strong offensive output with 47 career goal contributions (29g/18a). Spicer was a 2023 MAC Hermann Trophy Semifinalist and was drafted 1st overall by Toronto FC in the 2024 MLS SuperDraft.
Portland Timbers
Kamal Miller – Syracuse
Miller played for Syracuse from 2015-18, making 78 appearances in that time. He was a team captain for his junior and senior years and was also named to the All-ACC Third Team in 2018. Miller was selected by Orlando City in the 2nd Round (27th overall) of the 2019 MLS SuperDraft.
Ariel Lassiter – Cal Poly
Son of former USMNT player Roy Lassiter, Ariel played one season for Cal Poly, logging 929 minutes and contributing 9 goals (5g/4a). He left after his freshman season to play for GAIS in Sweden. Ariel Lassiter has 33 caps for the Costa Rican national team.
Omir Fernandez – Wake Forest
Fernandez was named the ACC Offensive Player of the Year in 2018 after making 20 starts with 18 goal contributions (12g/6a). He was also a 2018 MAC Hermann Trophy Semifinalist, the same year Gutman won the prestigious award. After his breakout sophomore campaign, Fernandez signed a homegrown contract with the New York Red Bulls.
Real Salt Lake
Noel Caliskan – Loyola Marymount
Caliskan played four seasons at LMU, making 64 starts with 22 career goal contributions (9g/13a). He was a four-year captain and also won WCC Midfielder of the Year twice and WCC Player of the Year in 2021. The Portland Timbers drafted Caliskan 15th overall in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft.
DeAndre Yedlin – Akron
Yedlin made 41 starts across two seasons with the Akron Zips before signing as the Seattle Sounders’ first-ever Homegrown player. After his rookie year with Seattle, Yedlin was named to the 2014 USMNT World Cup roster. He was the first former Zips player to be selected for a World Cup roster.
Emeka Eneli – Cornell
Eneli played four seasons for Cornell, making over 50 starts during his college career with 39 goal contributions (21g/18a). He earned First Team All-Ivy League in his junior and senior campaigns before being selected 25th overall by Real Salt Lake in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft.
Jesus Barea – Missouri State
Barea made 85 starts for Missouri State with 53 goal contributions (34g/19a), winning the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year twice (2022, 2024). Barea was also a 2024 MAC Hermann Trophy Semifinalist and was drafted 19th overall by Real Salt Lake in the 2025 MLS SuperDraft. Barea primarily played for RSL’s development squad, Real Monarchs SLC, during his rookie campaign, but he did earn 11 appearances for the First Team in 2025.
