There is suddenly a very tall hole in the Duke men’s soccer roster. Freshman goalkeeper Julian Eyestone announced in an Instagram post Tuesday morning that he will forgo the remainder of his college eligibility to pursue a professional career.
The 6-foot-6 Dallas native did not specify that he will be entering the MLS draft, meaning that he may be signing a contract with a team directly. The team he will sign with remains unclear, although before joining the Blue Devils, Eyestone played for the FC Dallas Academy. He has trained with the Texas club since age 15. Before starting his collegiate career at Duke, the Lone Star product started eight games for North Texas SC, FC Dallas’ second team.
This past season, Eyestone earned a spot on the ACC All-Freshman team as well as on the All-ACC Second Team. On Sept. 12, in the third week of the season, he was named ACC Defensive Player of the Week. His slew of accolades come on the heels of a season where he saved 69.4% of shots on goal, allowing a total of 22 goals from all opponents combined.
Eyestone leaves Duke in the wake of an 11-4-3 season that went as far as an ACC tournament quarterfinal game and a second-round exit in the NCAA tournament.
The only other Blue Devil goalie who saw minutes in the net this season was senior Jacob Hochstein, who will graduate in the spring. That leaves Duke goalkeeping up to junior Grant Farley, who has yet to clock minutes on the field, and freshman Nathan Gaviser, who similarly has yet to see action in the college scene.
“We are delighted that Julian is following his professional soccer dreams," head coach John Kerr told the Chronicle in an email Tuesday afternoon. "He had a spectacular year here at Duke and we’re very supportive of his aspirations to move to the next level. He made a big impact in a short period of time with us, and we’re grateful for his contributions, both on and off the field! He’s a very exciting prospect and we hope to see him play in the World Cup for the USA in the coming years!”
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Sophie Levenson is a Trinity sophomore and a sports managing editor of The Chronicle's 120th volume.