A little more than a year removed from playing at junior college, Terrapins men’s soccer defender Ivan Magalhaes made another stride toward competing professionally.
A round after Toronto FC selected midfielder Tsubasa Endoh ninth overall — the Terps’ highest pick since 2012 — Houston Dynomo picked Magalhaes in the second round with the 26th overall pick of the MLS SuperDraft at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore. Both players were invited to the MLS Combine held Jan. 7–12 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Magalhaes came to College Park this past season after playing two years at Eastern Florida State junior college where he was a two-time All-American. Magalhaes started at center back alongside defender Alex Crognale for the Terps, and the duo was an instrumental part of a Terps team that secured 10 shutouts.
“It was an absolute pleasure to have Ivan as part of our program this season and he was integral to our success, especially defensively,” Terps coach Sasho Cirovski said. “He really grew as a player here at Maryland in just a short time and I believe he has a very promising future at the next level.”
In 22 starts, Magalhaes recorded one goal and one assist. The 6-foot-1 defender’s lone score at the Division I level came early in the Terps’ win against No. 7-seed Notre Dame in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Later in that match, though, Magalhaes was sent off after his second yellow card, which resulted resulted in a red card and forced him to sit out the team’s next match. He was unavailable for the Terps’ season-ending loss to No. 2-seed Clemson in the quarterfinals.
Magalhaes was listed as a junior throughout the season on UMTerps.com, but Washington Post reporter Steven Goff tweeted Dec. 11, 2015 that Magalhaes was no longer eligible to play at the college level.
