Tomas Hilliard-Arce

Classroom

Tomas Hillard-Arce is a science, technology and society major who owns a 3.18 GPA and is on track to complete requirements for his degree and graduate two quarters early at the conclusion of the fall session. He is also a two-time Pac-12 All-Academic Honorable Mention (2015, 2016) honoree and is fluent in Spanish.

Character

A team co-captain this season, Hilliard-Arce is a leader on one of the nation’s most successful programs. Stanford is the winningest program in the country by percentage since 2014 with an overall record of 50-9-11 (.793) and has won back-to-back national championships and three consecutive Pac-12 titles.

Community

Hilliard-Arce is active in service projects in and around Stanford as well as back home in Charlotte. In North Carolina, he volunteers with Camp SOAR, organizing and playing sports with special-needs athletes. He has also worked Stanford soccer camps for four years to help promote the game in the Bay Area and is part of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) on campus.

Competition

Hilliard-Arce has started at center back in each of his 69 career matches through nomination time and has scored nine times and notched two assists. The MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist from 2016 and a projected top pick in the upcoming MLS SuperDraft is on a number of watch lists this season, including the MAC Hermann Trophy watch list, the Top Drawer Soccer Preseason Best XI First Team, the College Soccer News Preseason All-Amerca First Team and the All-Pac-12 preseason team. He was a first-team All-American as a junior, the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year and named to the College Cup All-Tournament team. Hilliard-Arce has anchored a Cardinal defense that has posted a 0.66 goals-against average since 2014, including 46 shutouts. Last season, Stanford finished fourth nationally in goals-against average (0.56), which tied for the second-best mark in program history. Its 13 shutouts also tied for third in the country and were its most since 2000 (16).