The best defense in all of college soccer got its just due when three of its standout players were selected in the MLS SuperDraft. Center back Giuliano Fravolini Whitchurch, goalkeeper Andrew Samuels and right back Jack Jasinski all came off the board as part of a record four Princeton players to be picked on Thursday. Whitchurch was selected in the first round (24th overall) by LAFC, while Samuels (37th overall) to St. Louis City and Jasinski (41st overall) to San Jose Earthquakes went in round two. Bardi Hormozi rounded out the quartet of selections when he went in the second round (53rd overall) to Minnesota United. It was an historic season on Old Nassau thanks in large part to the play of those four. Princeton went 15-2-2 overall and swept its way to the Ivy League double as regular season and tournament champion. During the regular season, the Tigers became the first Ivy League team to ever go 7-0 without conceding a single goal and set program records for wins (15), shutouts (13) and highest ranking (No. 3). Whitchurch, a senior from San Diego, was a First Team All-Ivy selection and Third Team United Soccer Coaches All-American. He tallied his lone collegiate goal in the semifinals of the Ivy League Tournament when he knocked in a 44th-minute equalizer against Harvard. In total, he appeared in 57 matches (52 starts) and logged over 4,500 minutes. He was ranked as the No. 2 prospect at left center back by MLSSoccer.com behind Nikola Markovic of national champion N.C. State. Markovic went No. 1 overall to D.C. United. LAFC finished with 60 points and in third place in the Western Conference. Andrew Samuels is one of the best goalkeepers in college soccer. It’s no coincidence Princeton’s rise has come at the same time Samuels was rated as the No. 2 goalkeeping prospect, but MLSSoccer.com, but was the third shot stopper to come of the board after Vermon’s Niklas Herceg (16th to FC Dallas) and Syracuse’s Tomas Hut (21st to the Red Bulls). A native of the Bay Area, Samuels is a product of both the San Jose Earthquakes Academy and De Ana Force. He had his breakout midway through his sophomore season and never looked back, back stopping the Tigers to a 20-4-2 record in games he started. He was simply spectacular this fall with an .037 goals against average in over 1700 minutes. He produced one of the saves of the season when he dove to his right to push a free kick around the post against Duke in the NCAA Tournament. Princeton goalkeeper Andrew Samuels didn’t conceded a single goal during the Ivy League regular season. (Joshua Gao/ Princeton Athletics) St. Louis is coming off a poor season in which it recorded 32 points and finished 13th out of 15 clubs in the Western Conference. Most of its goalkeeping minutes were allocated to 35-year-old Swiss veteran Roman Bürki. Jasinski is a senior from Charlotte who spent time in the Philadelphia Union academy before joining the college ranks. He started all 19 matches and recored three goals and six assists. In four seasons, Jasinski started 65 of 68 games. San Jose, which is coached by Bruce Arena, also missed the playoffs this season after finishing in 10th in the Western Conference on 41 points. Hormozi, a midfielder from Bethesda, Md., goes to Minnesota after a breakout season that saw the junior score six goals and tally four assists for 16 points. Coming up in clutch moments, Hormozi tallied three game winners, including ones against Brown and Penn in Ivy League play. Both Samuels and Hormozi have the option of returning to school instead of turning pro. Senior Daniel Ittycheria, who was drafted last year by D.C. United but came back for his senior season, signed an MLS NEXT Pro deal with Whitecaps FC 2 earlier this week. ...read more read less