RIVERSIDE, Calif. — After the legacy Aidan Apodaca left behind at California Baptist University – and in the NCAA in general – professional teams had to take notice. Sunday afternoon in the third round of the Major League Soccer Draft, one team proved it had.
 
The Rancho Cucamonga native became the first Lancer to be drafted by an MLS team as the 55^th pick overall when the Philadelphia Union selected him.

"I'm extremely grateful for everyone that has helped me the past four years to achieve this," said Apodaca. "As CBU gets bigger and makes its way into Division I, I hope more Lancers are given the opportunity that I have been given. It feels so surreal to be drafted and hopefully I am the first of many!"

This past year, Apodaca led not only NCAA Division II in goals (29), but Division I and Division III – the most goals scored in D-I was 17 and D-III was 23. He averaged 1.45 goals per game and 3.10 points per game in CBU's most successful NCAA season. He broke multiple records in the process, including all three scoring records at CBU: five goals in a single game, 29 goals in a single season and 48 goals in a career. He also set new records for hat tricks in a single season (three), hat tricks in a career (four), consecutive games with a goal (nine) and multi-goal games in a single season (eight).
 
With all those stats, it was a no-brainer Apodaca was named the Division II Player of the Year, Division II Statistical Champion for points per game and goals per game, D-II West Region Player of the Year, and PacWest Player of the Year. He also garnered All-PacWest, All-West Region and All-American first-team honors.

"We are so proud of Aidan," said Coach Coe Michaelson, who became the CBU head coach heading into Apodaca's junior campaign. "His development and growth over these past two years is a huge testament to his work ethic. The Union are getting a guy who is only beginning to discover his potential and who has the commitment to continue improving and become something special. This is the beginning of a special journey for him and his family and we will be his biggest fans back here in Riverside. Hopefully he is the first of many future Lancers in the pros."

In the fall, the Lancers won their first outright PacWest Conference championship with their first-ever undefeated regular season and hosted the first and second rounds of the NCAA Division II tournament. CBU peaked at No. 2 in the rankings as it broke multiple team records: most wins (17), longest unbeaten streak (19), most consecutive wins (nine), most goals scored (59), most assists (56), fewest goals allowed (12) and most shutouts (11).