May 22, 2012
WASHINGTON, D.C. -
California alumni Josh Saunders and Hector Jimenez visited the White House on May 15 with their Major League Soccer club - the Los Angeles Galaxy - as President Barack Obama lauded the team for winning the 2011 MLS Cup. Los Angeles won the league championship last November when the Galaxy defeated the Houston Dynamo - and fellow Cal alumnus Calen Carr - 1-0.
Saunders - who completed his Cal career in 2002 - was the starting goalkeeper for the Galaxy last year, when he won his third MLS title. Drafted into the league by the San Jose Earthquakes, the goalkeeper won his first MLS championship as a rookie with San Jose in 2003 and claimed his second as a reserve with the Galaxy in 2005. Jimenez finished his Cal career after the Bears' run to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinal round in 2010. The Galaxy drafted the midfielder in the 2011 MLS SuperDraft.
There are 13 former Bears on MLS rosters this season and 17 Cal alumni playing professionally overall. Along with Jimenez, Saunders and Carr, the MLS Bears are Luke Sassano and Eric Kronberg (Sporting Kansas City), Andrew Jacobson and Andrew Wiedeman (FC Dallas), David Bingham (San Jose Earthquakes), Servando Carrasco (Seattle Sounders FC), Stefan Frei (Toronto FC), Steve Purdy (Portland Timbers), A.J. Soares (New England Revolution) and Tyson Wahl (Montreal Impact).
The non-MLS Cal alumni playing professionally are Leo Krupnik (Maccabi Netanya in the Israeli Premier League), Anthony Avalos (SK Vard Haugesund, Norway Second Division), Troy Roberts (USL Pro League) and Evan Sassano (Minnesota Stars FC, NASL).
