While many may consider it a long shot for a D2 soccer player to reach the MLS, the Seattle Sounders felt confident Cal State Dominguez Hills center back Tony Alfaro was the man for them. They took Alfaro in the second round with the 27th overall pick. Many experts claim that Alfaro was the most technical center back in the entire draft.
As the reigning CCAA Defensive Player of the Year, it makes sense that Alfaro would be picked up in the MLS Draft. In his senior season, Alfaro started in all but the first game of the season as he served a suspension from a red card in 2014. He played a team-high 1,954 minutes and was one of the team captains. He scored six goals, and five of those came from penalties- a rare skill in a center back. On the defensive side of things, he registerd a 0.9 goals-against average in the 21 matches he appeared in.
Alfaro describes himself as being a very physical and aggressive player, and would love to spend some time on the attack for the Sounders at left back. Don't worry about him getting into too much trouble, however, as he only picked up four yellow cards and no reds this year.
Cal State Dominguez is ranked at BR-25 after a fantastic season. They went 15-3-4, and 9-1-2 in conference play. They were knocked out in the 3rd round of the NCAA D2 West Regionals after losing 1-2 to Cal Poly Pomona. The last player to be drafted to an MLS team from Dominguez was in 2005 with Columbus Crew star Kei Kamara.
As a Sounders fan I know just how badly we need depth at the center back and left back positions, and I'm one of many hoping that Tony Alfaro can be an answer to this problem. If he can spend some time on the Sounders 2 squad this season to develop his game even further, many people are confident that he can do the job.
