William Christopher Bruin (born October 24, 1989) 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 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 Cana ...

club

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began ...

. Prior to joining Seattle, he spent 6 seasons playing for the

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo FC (formerly officially, but still commonly, called the Houston Dynamo) is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The Dynamo compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Establish ...

. He has twice played for the

United States men's national soccer team The United States men's national soccer team (USMNT) represents the United States in men's international soccer competitions. The team is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and is a member of FIFA and CONCACAF. The U.S. team h ...

Youth career

Growing up in Greater St. Louis, Bruin played club soccer for St. Louis Scott Gallagher. He graduated from

De Smet Jesuit High School De Smet Jesuit High School is a Catholic, college preparatory high school for boys located in Creve Coeur, Missouri, in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Louis. The school began classes in the fall of 1967. It was named in honor of the p ...

in 2008, having played on the school soccer team for all four years of high school. Bruin was named the 2007

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

State Soccer Player of the Year and was a two time

NSCAA The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)) is an organization of American soccer coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization in the world, with more than 3 ...

All-American while at De Smet Jesuit. He also set the school record for goals with 102.

College career

Bruin played

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 Ki ...

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...

for three seasons, scoring 33 goals in 66 appearances, including a team-leading 18 goals in 20 appearances during the 2010 season. He helped the Hoosiers win the 2010

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

regular season championship and qualify for the NCAA Tournament in all three of his seasons. Bruin was named the 2008 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, first team All-Big Ten in 2009 and 2010, and the 2010 Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year. As a junior, he finished in second place behind

Akron Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city ...

forward

Darlington Nagbe Darlington Joephillip Nagbe (born July 19, 1990) is an professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Columbus Crew in Major League Soccer. Born in Liberia, he represented the United States national team. Nagbe spent the first seven ...

for the 2010

Hermann Trophy The Hermann Trophy is awarded annually by the Missouri Athletic Club to the United States's top men's and women's college soccer players. History In 1967, Bob Hermann, the president of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and th ...

. Bruin chose to forgo his final season of collegiate eligibility, instead declaring for the MLS SuperDraft and signing a

Generation Adidas Generation Adidas is a joint venture between Major League Soccer and U.S. Soccer aimed at raising the level of young professional soccer talent in the United States. The program, sponsored by Adidas, offers professional-ready players in the U. ...

contract with

Professional career

Houston Dynamo

Bruin was selected by the

with the 11th overall pick of the

2011 MLS SuperDraft The 2011 MLS SuperDraft was the twelfth annual SuperDraft presented by Major League Soccer. It was held on January 13, 2011 in Baltimore, Maryland, during the 2011 NSCAA Convention at the Baltimore Convention Center. The 2011 SuperDraft consiste ...

. He made his professional debut on March 19, 2011, in Houston's first game of the 2011 MLS season, a 1–0 loss to the

Philadelphia Union The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in Chester, Pennsylvania. The Union compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the club began playing in 2010 ...

. On April 10, Bruin scored his first professional goal against the

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March ...

to seal a 3–1 victory. Bruin netted his first professional hat-trick in a 4–1 win against D.C. United on April 29. On July 30, he suffered a knee injury during a 3–1 win over the

, causing him to miss over 5 weeks. He ended the regular season with 25 appearances, 5 goals, and 1 assist, helping the Dynamo finish 2nd in the Eastern Conference and qualify for the playoffs. Bruin made 3 substitute appearances in the playoffs as Houston reached MLS Cup 2011, where they lost 1–0 to the

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 p ...

, with Bruin not appearing in the match. On April 15, Bruin scored his first goal of the season in a 1–1 draw with the Chicago Fire. He scored in the 73rd and 90th minutes on June 20 to give Houston a 3–3 draw with

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BM ...

. Bruin ended the MLS regular season with 12 goals and 4 assists from 32 appearances to help Houston qualify for the playoffs. In the opening round of the playoffs, Bruin scored twice to give the Dynamo a 2–1 win over Chicago. He had a goal and an assist in Houston's next game, a 2–0 win over

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American men's professional soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The administrative offices are located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and the team clubhouse and ...

in leg 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. Bruin and the Dynamo would lose the second leg 1–0, but advanced 2–1 on aggregate. In the first leg of the Conference finals, Bruin scored once in a 3–1 win over D.C. United. Houston and Bruin drew leg 2 to advance to MLS Cup 2012. Bruin played the full 90 minutes in MLS Cup as Houston lost to the Galaxy for the second straight season, this time by a score of 3–1. During the season, Bruin also made 2 appearances in the group stage for the 2012–13

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Ameri ...

. On March 30, 2013, Bruin scored his first goal of the 2013 season in a 2–0 victory against the Earthquakes. On May 8, Bruin scored twice and had 2 assists to give the Dynamo a 4–0 win over D.C. United. He finished the MLS regular season with 8 goals and a career high 7 assists in 30 appearances to help Houston qualify for the playoffs for the third consecutive season. In their opening match of the playoffs, Bruin scored twice to help the Dynamo defeat the Montreal Impact 3–0. He would start Houston's next 3 playoff games as well, but came off injured in the first leg of the Conference Finals, a 0–0 draw against Sporting Kansas City. Bruin missed the second leg and Houston lost 2–1 to SKC. In Champions League play, Bruin started both legs of the 2012–13 CCL quarterfinals matchup with Santos Laguna, a 3–1 aggregate loss, and made 2 appearances in the group stage of the 2013–14 Champions League. On March 8, 2014, in the opening game of the 2014 season, Bruin scored twice and had an assist as the Dynamo defeated the

New England Revolution The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compe ...

4–0. On August 3, Bruin scored 1 minute into stoppage time to give Houston a 1–0 victory against D.C. United. On August 29, he scored once as Houston beat Kansas City 3–1, but during the game Bruin came off injured and was forced to miss the next 6 games. Bruin ended the regular season with 27 appearances, 10 goals, and 1 assist, however it was a poor season for the Dynamo as a team, finishing 8th in the Eastern Conference and missing the playoffs. He scored his first goal of the 2015 season on April 25 in a 4–4 draw with Sporting Kansas City. Bruin scored a brace on May 16 as Houston beat the

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional men's soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The Timbers have played their home games at ...

3–1. On June 5, he scored twice and had an assist as the Dynamo beat the

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...

4–2. Bruin scored 11 goals and had 4 assists from 33 appearances during the regular season as Houston finished 8th in the Western Conference, failing to qualify for the playoffs for the second straight season. On March 6, 2016, in the opening match of the season, Bruin had an assist as the Dynamo drew 3–3 with New England. On March 12, He scored once in a 5–0 Dynamo win over

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise began play in 1996 as a charter club of the le ...

. He ended the season with 4 goals and 3 assists from 31 appearances as the Dynamo finished last in the Western Conference and missed out on the playoffs for the third consecutive season. He only made one start over the final 3 months of the season as

Mauro Manotas Mauro Andrés Manotas Páez (born 15 July 1995) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Liga MX club Atlas. Club career Uniautónoma Manota was the top scorer at the 2013 Colombian U20 championship with 200 goals, a ...

emerged as the starting striker. Following the 2016 season, Bruin requested a trade from Houston. Bruin ended his time in Houston with 57 goals, at the time the second most in team history.

Seattle Sounders FC

On December 23, 2016, Bruin was traded to the Seattle Sounders in exchange for undisclosed amounts of general and targeted

allocation money Allocation money, in Major League Soccer, represents an amount of money that teams may use to sign players and/or allocate to their salaries to get under the salary cap. Reasons for obtaining MLS teams receive general allocation money for these r ...

. Bruin made his Sounders debut on March 4, 2017, coming on as a substitute in a 2–1 loss against his former team, the

. He scored his first Sounders goal on March 11, an equalizer in the 94th minute of a 2–2 draw against the Montreal Impact. He scored a brace on October 15 to help the Sounders defeat

4–0. Bruin ended his first season in Seattle with 11 goals and 2 assists from 31 regular season appearances, helping the Sounders finish second in the Western Conference. After Bruin started both legs of a 2–0 aggregate win against the

in the Conference semifinals, Seattle faced off with the Dynamo in the Conference final. He scored once in the first leg while scoring and picking up an assist in the second leg to help the Sounders beat his former team 5–0 on aggregate and advance to MLS Cup 2017. Bruin played the full 90 minutes in the final as Seattle lost to

2–0. Bruin and the Sounders opened the 2018 season on February 22 with a 2–1 loss to Santa Tecla in the leg 1 of the CONCACAF Champions League round of 16. On March 1, Bruin scored once in a 4–0 in leg 2 to give Seattle a 5–2 aggregate win. Bruin appeared in both legs of the quarterfinals, but the Sounders lost to

C.D. Guadalajara Club Deportivo Guadalajara (); often simply known as Guadalajara () and their nickname ''Chivas'' (), is a Mexican professional football club based in Zapopan, Jalisco. Guadalajara is one of the ten founding members of the Mexican First Divi ...

3–1 on aggregate. On April 15, he picked up his first goal and assist of the MLS season to give Seattle a 2–2 draw with

. He scored twice on July 4 as the Sounders beat the Colorado Rapids 2–1. On August 4, Bruin scored in the 97th minute to give Seattle a 2–1 win over

Minnesota United Minnesota United FC is an American professional soccer club based in Saint Paul, Minnesota that plays in the Western Conference of Major League Soccer. The club began play in 2017 as the league's 22nd club, and replaced the North American So ...

. He ended the regular season with 29 appearances, 7 goals, and 5 assists as the Sounders finished second in the Western Conference. In the playoffs, Bruin made a substitute appearance in leg 2 of the Conference semifinals matchup with the

. After playing to a 4–4 aggregate score, the Sounders lost on penalty kicks 4–2, with Bruin being one of two Sounders to miss their PK. Bruin made his first appearance of the 2019 season on March 30, coming off the bench in a 0–0 draw against Vancouver. On April 1, Bruin played a game for Seattle's

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, p ...

affiliate, the

Tacoma Defiance Tacoma Defiance, formerly Seattle Sounders FC 2, is an American professional soccer team based in Tacoma, Washington, U.S. that competes in the MLS Next Pro, the third tier of the national soccer pyramid, as the reserve team of Seattle Sounde ...

, scoring once and adding an assist in a 2–1 win over Sacramento Republic. On April 13, he scored twice as the Sounders defeated Toronto FC 2–0. On June 18, Bruin tore his ACL during practice, ruling him out for the rest of the season. In Bruin's absence, the Sounders went on to win

MLS Cup 2019 MLS Cup 2019 was the 24th edition of the MLS Cup, the championship match of Major League Soccer (MLS), and took place on November 10, 2019, at CenturyLink Field in Seattle, Washington, United States. The soccer match was contested by Seattl ...

. Bruin made his first appearance since tearing his ACL on July 27, coming off the bench and scoring in a 4–1 loss to LAFC in the round of 16 of the

MLS is Back Tournament The MLS is Back Tournament took place during the 2020 Major League Soccer season to mark the league's return to action after being suspended as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the 26 Major League Soccer teams, 24 participated in the tourna ...

. On October 22, Bruin scored in the 93rd minute to give Seattle a 1–1 draw with Portland. In a shortened 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 identi ...

, Bruin made 15 appearances, scored 1 goal, and had 1 assist in MLS regular season play. After not featuring in the first 2 playoff games, Bruin sparked a comeback in the Conference final. Trailing 2–0 to Minnesota United, Bruin entered the game in the 73rd minute and scored in the 75th to make it 2–1.

Raúl Ruidíaz Raúl Mario Ruidíaz Misitich (, Croatian: ''Misitić''; born 25 July 1990) is a Peruvian professional footballer who currently plays for Major League Soccer club Seattle Sounders and the Peru national team, as a striker. He is of maternal ...

scored in the 89th minute and

Gustav Svensson Karl Gustav Johan Svensson (born 7 February 1987) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays for Allsvenskan club IFK Göteborg as a midfielder. Starting off his footballing career in Sweden with IFK Göteborg in 2005, he went on to play p ...

scored in the 93rd minute to give Seattle a 3–2 win and advance to

MLS Cup 2020 MLS Cup 2020 was the 25th edition of the MLS Cup, the championship match of Major League Soccer (MLS), and was played at Mapfre Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. The match was originally set to take place on November 7, 2020, but was postponed to De ...

. Bruin appeared off the bench in the final, but Seattle fell 3–0 to the

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew, formerly known as Columbus Crew SC, is an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The Crew competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference and began play in 1996 as one ...

International career

Bruin made his debut for the

on January 29, 2013, coming on as a substitute in a 0–0 draw against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. On June 27, 2013, USA head coach

Jürgen Klinsmann Jürgen Klinsmann (, born 30 July 1964) is a German professional football manager and former player. Klinsmann played for several prominent clubs in Europe including VfB Stuttgart, Inter Milan, Monaco, Tottenham Hotspur, and Bayern Munich. He ...

named Bruin to the 23-man squad for the

2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 12th CONCACAF Gold Cup competition and the 22nd CONCACAF regional championship overall in CONCACAF's fifty years of existence. The United States was the host nation. The competition began on 7 July 2013 at the ...

. Bruin earned his second cap in a friendly before the tournament, coming off the bench in a 6–0 win over Guatemala on June 7. The United States would go on to win the Gold Cup, but Bruin did not appear in the tournament.

Personal life

Bruin was born to Bill and Eva Bruin in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

, Missouri. He grew up in

Creve Coeur, Missouri Creve Coeur is a city located in mid St. Louis County, Missouri, United States, a part of Greater St. Louis. Its population was 18,834 at the 2020 census. Creve Coeur borders and shares a ZIP code (63141) with the neighboring city of Town and ...

, a suburb 15 miles west of St. Louis. At

, Bruin played on the school soccer team. He also played as a center fielder on the school

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

team as a freshman and played for four years as a shooting guard on the

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

team. Bruin attended

, where he played on the soccer team and was a fitness specialist major. His wife, Caitlin, attended Indiana at the same time as Bruin and played on the school

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

team. Together they have two children.

Career statistics

Club

Honors

Seattle Sounders FC *

MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conferen ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

United States *

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup ( es, Copa de Oro de la CONCACAF, french: Coupe D'or CONCACAF) is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the continental champion of North Ameri ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

Individual *

Freshman of the Year: 2008 *Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year: 2010 *

Young Player of the Year: 2011,

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

References

External links

*
Indiana University profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bruin, Will 1989 births Living people American soccer players American_people_of_Dutch_descent Indiana Hoosiers men's soccer players Houston Dynamo FC players Seattle Sounders FC players Tacoma Defiance players Soccer players from St. Louis Major League Soccer players USL Championship players United States men's international soccer players Houston Dynamo FC draft picks 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup players CONCACAF Gold Cup-winning players Association football forwards All-American men's college soccer players