Ryan Carmichael and Eliot Goldthorp became the fifth and sixth players to be drafted out of Hofstra University in the Major League Soccer (MLS) SuperDraft on Tuesday, Dec. 19. Carmichael was drafted 24th overall by Inter Miami CF, while Goldthorp was selected in the second round and 45th overall by the Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
Inter Miami, co-owned by former English soccer player David Beckham, had two picks in Round 1 of the SuperDraft. They initially picked midfielder Yannick Bright out of the University of New Hampshire before choosing Carmichael nine picks later. The Northern Ireland native became only the second Hofstra men’s soccer player to be drafted in the first round of the MLS SuperDraft after Joe Holland was picked 10th overall by the Houston Dynamo in 2017.
Carmichael will join a team with many well-known players, including Spanish veterans Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets. Famed Uruguayan striker Luis Suárez will also be joining the team, having just been signed for the 2024 season.
However, no player on the roster is as well known as Lionel Messi, the 36-year-old who has won a record eight Ballon d’Ors, four UEFA Champions League titles with Spanish club FC Barcelona, and, famously, the 2022 FIFA World Cup with Argentina. While known for his goal-scoring abilities, Messi is also capable of delivering crucial passes. Carmichael’s potential role on the team can be as a station striker, making for a possible attacking duo in the future.
Goldthorp, the reigning Coastal Athletic Association Player of the Year, has been chosen to play professionally in British Columbia. The Whitecaps are reigning Canadian Championship winners and finished sixth in the Western Conference last season. There may not be any as well-known big hitters as there are in Miami, but this side has recently won silverware and continues to build with young talent. The United Kingdom native will have opted out of his remaining year of eligibility as an undergraduate student if he competes on the professional team.
Photo courtesy of Evan Bernstein
Carmichael and Goldthorp joined forces in the 2022 offseason when the latter was transferred as a sophomore from Old Dominion University. Goldthorp scored 17 goals in the 2022 season before Carmichael did the same this year, each finishing second in the nation in individual scoring in their respective years. They combined for 134 points throughout the two-year span. Carmichael was named 2022 CAA Player of the Year before Goldthorp received the same honor in 2023.
Individual achievements culminated in team success, as Carmichael and Goldthorp won two consecutive CAA championships together. They qualified for the NCAA third round this year, where the team was eliminated on penalties by the University of North Carolina. It was the second trip to the last 16 in three years, although the program had never made it that far before then.
This was the second time in Hofstra men’s soccer history that two of its players were drafted in the MLS SuperDraft in the same year since Gary Flood and Michael Todd in 2007.
Goalkeeper Wessel Speel and defender Pierce Infuso were also eligible players in this year’s MLS SuperDraft, but they were not selected in any of the three rounds.
Photo courtesy of Alexis Friedman/Hofstra Athletics
