The LA Galaxy Academy will have 15 players on four teams take part in the 2015 NCAA men's soccer tournament.
UCLA (10 players), Cal-State Fullerton (two players), U.C. Santa Barbara (two players) and Cal Poly (one player) will take part in the tournament that culminates in the College Cup semifinals and final on Dec. 11 and 13 at Sporting Park.
The Bruins boast the largest number of Galaxy Academy alums: Javan Torre, Nathan Smith, Grady Howe, Juan Cervantes, William Raygoza, Christian Chavez, Malcolm Jones, Dakota Havlick, Brian Iloski, Robert Knights.
Michael Lopez and Dyllan Stevans will represent Fullerton while Josue Espana and Drew Murphy suit up for U.C. Santa Barbara. Justin Dhillon is the lone Galaxy Academy player who suits up for Cal Poly.
UCLA open the tournament on Thursday when they host Cal Poly with the winner facing 11th ranked Seattle University. Cal-State Fullerton will begin the competition at home against Santa Clara with the winner taking on Stanford. U.C. Santa Barbara are the only school with a bye into the second round. The Gauchos will face the winner of South Carolina vs. Furman.
Bruins midfielder Grady Howe is expected to play the largest role in his team as the senior from Newport Beach made 18 appearances for UCLA this season. Freshman defender Malcolm Jones is also of particular interest as the Galaxy Academy alum spent time with LA Galaxy II earlier in the year.
