Cesar Ruvalcaba Perez (born July 13, 2001) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a defender for

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

club

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew are an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team began play in 1996 as one of the 10 cha ...

Youth and college career

Ruvalcaba played soccer for

Downey High School Downey High School is one of two senior high schools located in the Los Angeles suburb of Downey, California, and within the Downey Unified School District. It is located at 11040 Brookshire Ave. At the present time the school has an enrollme ...

, while also playing club soccer for Downey FC United and Strikers FC. He began his college soccer career in 2019 at

Cal Poly Pomona California State Polytechnic University Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona) is a public polytechnic research university in Pomona, California, United States. It is the largest of the three polytechnic universities in the California State University syst ...

.He was coached by Matthew O'Sullivan.Though he did not make any appearances during his first two seasons. He made his debut in the 2021 season and became a mainstay in the Broncos’ defense, appearing in all but one game the rest of his time in California, making 62 starts in 63 appearances and recording three goals and seven assists across all competitions. Ruvalcaba was named team captain in both 2022 and 2023, and earned several individual honors, including three All-CCAA First Team selections, two United Soccer Coaches All-West Region nods, and back-to-back United Soccer Coaches First Team All-American honors. In 2023, he was named the CCAA Defender of the Year and led Cal Poly Pomona to an NCAA Division II Tournament appearance, scoring twice in a second-round win over Cal State Monterey Bay. Following his graduation from Cal Poly Pomona, Ruvalcaba transferred to

Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...

as a graduate student for the 2024 season. At SMU, he started all 14 matches he appeared in, scoring four goals and providing seven assists.

Club career

After being drafted by the Columbus Crew in the 2nd round of the 2025 SuperDraft, Ruvalcaba signed with the second team on March 5, 2025. While on loan with the first team, Ruvalcaba made his Major League Soccer debut on March 22, starting in an eventual 0–0 tie versus

New York City FC New York City Football Club (often referred to as NYCFC) is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in New York City. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern C ...

. He signed with the first team three days later, and started the following match in a 2–1 victory at D.C. United.

Style of play

Ruvalcaba has been noted for his high work ethic.

Career statistics

References

External links

Cal Poly Pomona profileSouthern Methodist ProfileColumbus profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruvalcaba, Cesar 2001 births Living people American men's soccer players Columbus Crew players Thunder Bay Chill players Men's association football defenders Sportspeople from South Gate, California