Preston Judd (born May 28, 1999) is an American professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

club

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete as a member club of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally as the San Jose Clash, the franchise ...

Early career

Judd was part of the Las Vegas Sports Academy. In 2017, Judd went to play

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United Kingd ...

at California Baptist University. In two years with the Lancers, Judd made 39 appearances, scoring 22 goals and tallying 4 assists. In his Freshman season he took Academic All-PacWest honors, and in his Sophomore season was named first-team All-WAC and second-team All-Far West Region, as well as to the WAC All-Academic team. In 2019, Judd transferred to the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private university, private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Mountain States, Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is ...

where he played a single season, scoring 7 goals and tallying 1 assist for the Pioneers. Judd was a 2019 Summit League All-Newcomer Team and was the 2019 Summit League Tournament MVP.

Professional career

On January 13, 2021, Judd signed with USL Championship side Sporting Kansas City II. Judd had attended Kansas City's 2020 College Invitational Combine, for players who had missed the 2020 season due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. On January 21, 2021, Judd was selected 35th overall in the

2021 MLS SuperDraft The 2021 MLS SuperDraft was the 22nd edition of the SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The SuperDraft is held every January prior to the start of the MLS season. The 2020 SuperDraft was the first held exclusively via conference call and ...

LA Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pl ...

. On April 7, 2021, it was announced Judd had signed with LA Galaxy II. On April 16, 2021, Sporting Kansas City confirmed they had agreed to terminate Judd's contract with the club to allow him to sign with the side who drafted him. Judd made his professional debut on April 30, 2021, starting in a 1–0 loss to

Sacramento Republic Sacramento Republic FC is an American professional soccer team based in Sacramento, California, that plays in the Western Conference of the USL Championship, the second level in US soccer. Co-founded by Warren Smith and Joe Wagoner in 2012, th ...

. Judd scored his first professional goal on May 5, 2021, netting a 90th-minute goal to complete a 5–0 win over

Las Vegas Lights Las Vegas Lights FC is an American professional soccer team based in Las Vegas, Nevada, that plays in the USL Championship. The team made its debut in 2018 and plays its home games at Cashman Field. The team employs neon imagery in its crest a ...

. On June 16, 2021, Judd netted his first career hat-trick, scoring all three LA Galaxy II goals in a 4–3 loss to Las Vegas Lights. On April 4, 2022, Judd moved to the

roster. On 14 December 2023, Judd joined

in exchange for $200,000 of future General Allocation Money.

References

External links

* * 1999 births Living people Men's association football forwards American men's soccer players California Baptist Lancers men's soccer players Denver Pioneers men's soccer players LA Galaxy draft picks Sporting Kansas City II players Ventura County FC players LA Galaxy players San Jose Earthquakes players Soccer players from Las Vegas USL Championship players Major League Soccer players {{US-footy-forward-stub