[81alum]

“Walking back in the locker room it sinks in you’re no longer part of this program,” said Hilliard-Arce, who is expected to a high pick in the upcoming MLS draft. “I started weeping. Leaving something so dear to me will be tough.”

http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/12/10/co...ccer-team/

College sports are so bittersweet.  This really was a band of brothers, winning three in a row, and six graduate. 

Doing a 3-peat in as competitive a sport as men's soccer is one of the most remarkable accomplishments for Stanford team sports ever.  I just checked to see how often we have had three-peat champions in other sports.  We did it in men's swimming 85-86-87, men's tennis 88-89-90 and 95-96-97-98, women's cross country 2005-6-7, women's swimming 1992-3-4-5-6, women's tennis 1986-7-8-9-90-91 and 2004-5-6.  So a six-peat, five-peat, and four-peat are in the bank in other sports. 

But each of these other "team" sports are of the sort where a handful of individuals can win the championship through the accumulation of individual wins. 

Men's soccer is the first sport where the game itself is a team game that has ever three-peated in Stanford history.  The water polo teams have come close, but have not quite three-peated (yet).

[81alum]

“Walking back in the locker room it sinks in you’re no longer part of this program,” said Hilliard-Arce, who is expected to a high pick in the upcoming MLS draft. “I started weeping. Leaving something so dear to me will be tough.”

http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/12/10/co...ccer-team/

College sports are so bittersweet.  This really was a band of brothers, winning three in a row, and six graduate. 

Doing a 3-peat in as competitive a sport as men's soccer is one of the most remarkable accomplishments for Stanford team sports ever.  I just checked to see how often we have had three-peat champions in other sports.  We did it in men's swimming 85-86-87, men's tennis 88-89-90 and 95-96-97-98, women's cross country 2005-6-7, women's swimming 1992-3-4-5-6, women's tennis 1986-7-8-9-90-91 and 2004-5-6.  So a six-peat, five-peat, and four-peat are in the bank in other sports. 

But each of these other "team" sports are of the sort where a handful of individuals can win the championship through the accumulation of individual wins. 

Men's soccer is the first sport where the game itself is a team game that has ever three-peated in Stanford history.  The water polo teams have come close, but have not quite three-peated (yet).