Today, in a matter of minutes, UCLA men’s soccer made its mark on the 2013 Major League Soccer SuperDraft held in Indianapolis, Ind.
Two Bruins, redshirt senior midfielder/forward Fernando Monge and senior midfielder/forward Ryan Hollingshead, were taken almost back-to-back.
Monge was selected with the 18th overall pick in the first round of the draft by the Montreal Impact. Minutes later, FC Dallas made the surprise pick of Hollingshead at 20th overall to open the second round.
Hollingshead and Monge were both invited to the MLS Combine held in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Jan. 11-15. While Monge attended, Hollingshead did not. According to teammates, junior defender Joe Sofia and junior forward Reed Williams, Hollingshead is planning on passing on a professional career to pursue building his own church.
Monge scored a career-high five goals in a breakout senior season that earned him an invite to the combine. He started all 19 matches for the Bruins in 2012, earning first-team All-Pac-12 honors.
Hollingshead was the Bruins’ captain in 2012 and finished with seven goals and eight assists to earn Pac-12 conference player of the year. According to the school, UCLA has now had 61 players drafted, the most by any school, in the SuperDraft’s 18-year history.
Compiled by Tyler Drohan, Bruin senior staff.