Schmidt Picked 35th By Real Salt Lake In 2017 MLS Super Draft
January 13, 2017 | Men's Soccer
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Washington redshirt senior Justin Schmidt was selected in the second round of the Major League Soccer Superdraft on Friday, picked by Real Salt Lake with their 35th overall pick.
This season, Schmidt played a crucial role for the Huskies, both on and off the field. As a redshirt senior he a was team captain and helped lead the defense for the Purple and Gold. Schmidt and the rest of the Husky defense held opponents to just seven wins this season and recorded five shutouts. He played in 20 games in 2016, starting in 19.
In his final campaign for Washington, Schmidt recorded three goals as a defender and had two assists. His three goals helped contribute to three Husky wins including a 4-0 shutout against UCLA, a 1-0 shutout against 2016 National Champion Stanford and a 4-1 NCAA second round tournament win against New Mexico.
The Albuquerque, N.M. native finished his Husky career with nine goals and 19 assists and was a starter all four years of play. He was part of the Pac-12 Champion team, was a national leading defender in 2015 allowing a miniscule .63 goals per game and appeared in the NCAA Tournament four times in his five year stretch.
Schmidt finished his career with several conference and regional honors. His recognitions include All-Pac-12 First Team, NSCAA All-Far West Region First Team, Second Team All-Pac-12 and College Soccer News National Team of the Week (Nov. 11, 2016).
The defender joins a brotherhood of 28 other Huskies drafted in the MLS, including MLS Cup Champions Craig Waibel, Brandon Prideaux, Taylor Peay, Andy Thoma, Darwin Jones and Cristian Roldan.
