Daniel Steres (born November 11, 1990) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a defender for Major League Soccer club Houston Dynamo. He was USL-Pro All-League Second Team in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

and

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, USL All-League First Team in 2015, and

LA Galaxy II LA Galaxy II is an American professional soccer team based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California, United States founded in 2014. It is the reserve team of the LA Galaxy. The team competes in MLS Next Pro, the third tier of the United Sta ...

Defender of the Year in 2014 and 2015.

Early and personal life

Steres was born in Burbank, California, to Suzie and Mark Steres. He grew up in

Calabasas, California Calabasas (from Spanish ''calabazas'' "gourds") is a city in the southwestern region of the San Fernando Valley, between the foothills of the Santa Monica and Santa Susanna mountains. He has a younger brother named Andrew; their family is

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

. His maternal grandmother is Jo Seligman, and his paternal grandparents are Bob and Rochelle Steres. Daniel Steres grew up a fan of the LA Galaxy, with his favorite players being stars Cobi Jones and

Mauricio Cienfuegos José Mauricio Cienfuegos (born 12 February 1968) is a Salvadoran former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. Club career Cienfuegos began his professional career in 1985 with Racing Junior. He played the next two seaso ...

. He is also a fan of English club

Tottenham Tottenham () is a town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Wal ...

Career

College and amateur

Steres started playing soccer with a U-11 team and played with the same team to U-19, during which the club won a Dallas Cup championship. He played four years for the Calabasas High School Coyotes soccer team. He twice was a Maramonte League selection, and was all-

California Interscholastic Federation The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) is the governing body for high school sports in the U.S. state of California. CIF membership includes both public and private high schools. Unlike most other state organizations, it does not have a ...

. Steres played four years of

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United K ...

on scholarship at

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

for the San Diego State Aztecs men's soccer team between 2008 and 2011. As a freshman, Steres was named the Aztecs' Top Newcomer. In 2008, he was named to the 2008 ''

Jewish Sports Review ''Jewish Sports Review (JSR)'' is a bi-monthly magazine that was established in 1997. Its editors are Ephraim Moxson and Shel Wallman. The magazine identifies which star and professional athletes are Jewish. It also covers and has all-time lists ...

'' All-America First-Team, along with

Zac MacMath Zachary Michael MacMath (born August 7, 1991) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper in Major League Soccer for Real Salt Lake. MacMath was drafted No. 5 overall in the 2011 MLS SuperDraft by the Philadelphia Union. ...

. In 2009, he was an honorable mention for the All- Pac-10 Team and honorable mention Pac-10 All-Academic Team. In 2010, Steres was named to the All-Pac-10 Second Team as a junior. In 2011, he was

NSCAA The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)) is an organization of American soccer coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization in the world, with more than ...

All-Far West Region First Team, All- Pac-12 First Team, Pac-12 All-Academic Team honorable mention, and was named the Aztecs' Team MVP, for his senior season.

Professional

Early career

Steres was drafted 28th in the

2012 MLS Supplemental Draft The 2012 MLS Supplemental Draft was a secondary Draft (sports), draft that was held by Major League Soccer via conference call on January 17, 2012. The draft was four rounds and all 19 MLS clubs participated. Changes from 2011 *As an expansion c ...

Chivas USA Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional soccer team based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California. The club played from 2005 to 2014 in Major League Soccer (MLS) and was a subsidiary of Mexican club C.D. G ...

, but did not sign a contract with the team. Following his brief stint with Chivas USA, Steres played for amateur side

Ventura County Fusion Ventura County Fusion is an American soccer team based in Ventura, California, United States. Founded in 2006, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The team plays its home games in the stadium on the ...

in the

USL PDL USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...

, who he had previously played with in 2011 during the college offseason. On June 6, 2012, Steres was selected by Seattle Sounders FC in the 2012 MLS Waiver Draft. He signed with the sounders on June 22. He was released following the 2012 season, having made no first team appearances.

Wilmington Hammerheads

Steres signed with

USL Pro The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

side

Wilmington Hammerheads Wilmington Hammerheads FC was a semi-professional American soccer team based in Wilmington, North Carolina. Founded in 1996, the team last competed in the Premier Development League, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid in 2017. History ...

for the 2013 season. On April 20, he made his Hammerheads debut, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–0 win over

Antigua Barracuda Antigua Barracuda were an Antiguan professional football team based in St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda. Founded in 2010, the team played in USL Pro, the third tier of the United States soccer league system from 2011 to 2013. The team played i ...

. Steres scored his first goal for Wilmington on May 18 to give the Hammerheads a 2–1 win against the

Los Angeles Blues Orange County Soccer Club is an American soccer team based in the Orange County, California city of Irvine. Founded in 2010 as the Los Angeles Blues, the team currently plays in the second tier USL Championship. The team plays its home games ...

. He ended the season with 25 appearances, 7 goals, and 3 assists in league play, leading the team in goals despite primarily playing as a centerback. Steres was named to the USL Pro All-League Second Team and was named team MVP. Despite a good season from Steres, the Hammerheads missed out on the playoffs, finishing 9th in the table, 1 spot and 1 point below the last playoff spot.

LA Galaxy II

For the 2014 season, Steres signed with

. He made his debut for ''Los Dos'' on March 22, scoring once in a 3–1 win over

Orange County Blues FC Orange County Soccer Club is an American soccer team based in the Orange County, California city of Irvine. Founded in 2010 as the Los Angeles Blues, the team currently plays in the second tier USL Championship. The team plays its home games a ...

. Steres finished the regular season with 3 goals in 24 appearances, helping Galaxy II finish 3rd, qualifying for the playoffs. He started both of ''Los Dos's'' playoff games as they reached the semifinal, losing 3–2 to eventual champions Sacramento Republic. Steres was named to the USL Pro All-League Second Team for the second straight year and was named LA Galaxy II Defender of the Year. Steres enjoyed another strong season with ''Los Dos'' in 2015, making 25 appearances and scoring 2 goals in the regular season. He served as the team captain, leading Galaxy II to a 5th place finish in the conference. Steres played every minute of Galaxy II's 4 playoff games as they reached the USL Championship, losing 2–1 in extra time to the

Rochester Rhinos Rochester New York FC, formerly known as the Rochester Rhinos, are an American professional soccer team based in Rochester, New York, United States. Founded in 1996, as the Rochester Raging Rhinos, they changed their name to Rochester Rhinos t ...

. He was named to the USL All-League First Team and was the Galaxy II Defender of the Year for the second straight year.

LA Galaxy

On December 17, 2015, Steres signed a first team contract with the LA Galaxy. On March 6, in the opening match of the 2016 season, Steres made his Galaxy and MLS debut, scoring once in a 4–1 win over

D.C. United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

. He ended the regular season with 1 goal and 1 assist in 31 appearances, helping the Galaxy to a 3rd place finish in the Western Conference. Steres played every minute of LA's 3 playoff games as they lost on penalties to the

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, lat ...

in leg 2 of the Conference Semifinals. He also made an appearance in the CONCACAF Champions League and U.S. Open Cup during the season. After starting the first 12 games of the 2017 season, Steres missed 9 games (6 MLS, 3 Open Cup) with a hamstring injury. He returned to action on July 17, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 loss to the

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on Mar ...

. On July 22, Steres scored twice in a 4–3 loss to the New England Revolution. He missed the final 6 matches of the year due to a

stress fracture A stress fracture is a fatigue-induced bone fracture caused by repeated stress over time. Instead of resulting from a single severe impact, stress fractures are the result of accumulated injury from repeated submaximal loading, such as running or ...

in his back. Steres ended the season with 3 goals in 21 appearances as the Galaxy finished last in the West. Steres made his first start of the 2018 season on March 24, helping the Galaxy to a 3–0 win over Vancouver and earning a spot in the MLS Team of the Week. On March 31, Steres picked up an assist to help the Galaxy come back from a 3 goal deficit to defeat rivals LAFC 4–3 in the first ever

El Tráfico El Tráfico, also known as the Los Angeles Derby, is a soccer rivalry between the two Major League Soccer (MLS) clubs based in the Greater Los Angeles area, LA Galaxy and Los Angeles FC. The rivalry is one of two crosstown derbies in MLS, along ...

matchup. He ended the regular season with 20 appearances and 1 assist as the Galaxy finished 7th in the Western Conference, 1 place and 1 point out of the playoffs. Steres and the Galaxy opened the 2019 season on March 2, with Steres scoring to help the Galaxy beat the Chicago Fire 2–1. On April 5, Steres scored in a 2–0 win against the Whitecaps, a performance that saw him named to the MLS Team of the Week. Steres made 30 appearances and scored 3 goals in the regular season, helping LA finish 5th in the West, returning to the playoffs following a 2 year absence. Steres played the full match in both of the Galaxy's playoff games as they reached the Conference Semifinals, where they lost 5–3 to LAFC. On December 12, 2019, Steres signed a new contract with the Galaxy. On August 29, 2020, Steres scored to help give the Galaxy a 3–2 win over

California Clásico The California Clásico is the name given to the soccer rivalry between the LA Galaxy and the San Jose Earthquakes. This Major League Soccer rivalry reached its zenith from 2001 to 2005, during which time the Earthquakes and the Galaxy combined ...

rivals San Jose Earthquakes. In a shortened season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Steres appeared in 20 out of a possible 23 games (all starts) and scored once. The Galaxy finished the season 10th in the Western Conference, missing out on the playoffs. Steres started the first 8 games of the 2021 season, but had to be subbed off due to a leg injury on June 19 in the first 10 minutes of a 2–1 loss to Seattle Sounders FC. He returned to the field on July 17, coming on as a late substitute in a 1–2 loss to Vancouver. Steres made the Team of the Week following his performance on September 11, where he picked up an assist and made multiple big plays defensively in a 1–1 draw against the Rapids. He ended the season with 18 appearances and 2 assists as the Galaxy finished 8th in the West, failing to qualify for the playoffs for the second straight season.

Houston Dynamo

On December 12, 2021, Steres was traded to the Houston Dynamo in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2022 MLS SuperDraft.

Career statistics

Honors

Club

;LA Galaxy II *

Western Conference (USL) The Western Conference is one of two conferences in USL Championship soccer. Current standings Members Current Conference Lineups Clubs timeline DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Define $now = 10/01/2017 ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barinc ...

: 2015

Individual

* USL-Pro All-League Second Team:

* USL All-League First Team: 2015 *

Defender of the Year: 2014, 2015 * In 2018 Steres was inducted into the

Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame The Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, in Beverly Hills, California, is a hall of fame dedicated to honoring American Jewish athletes, other sports personalities, and teams from Southern California who have distinguished themselves ...

References

External links

*
Twitter page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steres, Daniel 1990 births Living people American soccer players Association football defenders San Diego State Aztecs men's soccer players Seattle Sounders FC players Soccer players from Long Beach, California Sportspeople from Burbank, California People from Calabasas, California Ventura County Fusion players Wilmington Hammerheads FC players LA Galaxy players LA Galaxy II players Houston Dynamo FC players Chivas USA draft picks USL League Two players USL Championship players Major League Soccer players Jewish American sportspeople Jewish footballers 21st-century American Jews