By Michael Peterson on January 8, 2014

Sophomore winger Aaron Kovar will leave Stanford and sign a homegrown player contract with Seattle Sounders F.C. of Major League Soccer. Kovar played with the Sounders’ youth team from 2010 to 2012 and won the Gatorade 2011 Player of the Year for Washington in his time at Garfield High School.

In his freshman year at Stanford, Kovar earned the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year award after notching three goals and two assists in his 15 appearances — 12 of which were starts.

This past season, Kovar was named All-Pac-12 honorable mention and started all 21 matches, notching two goals and six assists on the season. In the last regular-season match against Cal, Kovar scored the game-winning goal in overtime after dribbling by several Cal defenders and slotting the ball into the lower right corner of the net to seal the Cardinal’s spot in the postseason. He also assisted on the only goal in Stanford’s 1-0 victory over Cal State Northridge in the second round of the playoffs.