Jaime Villarreal has signed a new contract with the 2015 Western Conference Champions LA Galaxy II, the club announced today. Villarreal, now 20, was the first-ever player from the LA Galaxy Academy to sign with Los Dos in 2014.
In 2015, his second season with Los Dos, Villarreal appeared in 23 games while starting 14. Villarreal almost tripled the amount of minutes he saw in 2014, helping the team to its second consecutive berth in the USL playoffs and its first-ever appearance in the USL Championship last October.
In his time with the LA Galaxy Academy, Villarreal tallied over 30 goals for the Galaxy U-18 and U-16 squads. In the U-18’s 2013-14 season, Villarreal scored 10 goals to help lead his team to a 19-3-5 record and the Southwest Division Championship in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy.
Villarreal is one of 15 Academy products that are signed professionally to either LA Galaxy or LA Galaxy II. Gyasi Zardes, Bradford Jamieson IV, Raul Mendiola, Oscar Sorto, Jack McBean, Jaime Villarreal, Eric Lopez, Elijah Martin, Adonis Amaya, Ryo Fujii, Joe Franco, Adrian Vera, Bennett Sneddon, Alejandro Covarrubias and Villarreal’s older brother, Jose Villarreal, all began their careers with the Academy.
Villarreal will return in action for Los Dos when the team kicks off the 2016 USL Regular Season on Saturday, March 26, against Arizona United SC at the StubHub Center Track & Field Stadium beginning at 7:30 p.m. PT.
Los Dos finished the USL Regular Season fifth in Western Conference standings with a 14-11-3 record to qualify for the USL Playoffs for the second-straight year. They were led in goals by forward Ariel Lassiter, who scored 15 times between the USL Regular Season and USL Playoffs. LA Galaxy Homegrown Player Raul Mendiola added 10 total assists for Los Dos on the year with Galaxy II goalkeeper Clement Diop earning 10 shutouts. LA Galaxy II also recorded the best road record in USL, going 11-7-0 in all competitions including regular season and playoffs.
