Cal Poly’s Chase Minter, Wade Hamilton invited to MLS combine

Cal Poly men’s soccer standouts Wade Hamilton and Chase Minter received invitations Friday to participate in the Major Leauge Soccer Player Combine scheduled for Jan. 7-12 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

A committee of MLS and Division I coaches from every conference selected the invitees, who will be evaluated by the league’s 20 franchises before the MLS SuperDraft is held Jan. 14 in Baltimore. The Chicago Fire will be the first team to draft during the four rounds and 81 total selections.

Friday’s list of 59 Division I players, along with Generation adidas signees, non-collegiate players, and more college seniors, will be divided into four teams at the combine and each will play three matches during the five-day evaluation period.

Minter, the two-time Big West Conference Midfielder of the Year, and Hamilton, twice named the Big West Goalkeeper of the Year, are the first Mustangs to participate in the combine since Patrick Sigler in 2012.

Recent Cal Poly graduates George Malki (No. 37, Montreal Impact) and Mackenzie Pridham (No. 58, Vancouver Whitecaps FC) were both taken in the 2014 MLS draft.

Cal Poly's all-time co-leader with 21 career assists, Minter ranks No. 2 in program history with 77 games played, No. 5 with 53 points and No. 7 with 16 goals. The Heath, Texas, native started all 59 of the Mustangs’ games during the last three years.

Hamilton, a four-year starter and the only Cal Poly player to appear in goal during the past three seasons, ranks second in program history with 293 saves, 18 shutouts and 72 starts and third with a 1.25 goals against average and .755 save percentage.

This story was originally published December 11, 2015 at 1:36 PM with the headline "Cal Poly’s Chase Minter, Wade Hamilton invited to MLS combine."