Jonathan "Nate" Jaqua (born October 28, 1981 in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census ...

) is an American former soccer player.

Career

High school

Jaqua is a graduate of South Eugene High School, where he led his team to two Midwestern League titles and one co-championship with North Bend in 1996. South Eugene lost to South Medford High School in the Oregon Class 4A state title in 1998. He was named a Parade All-American twice and named Oregon 4A Player of the Year twice.

College

Jaqua played

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 Philippines, the Philippines. Th ...

at the

University of Portland , mottoeng = The truth will set you free , established = 1901 , type = Private university , religious_affiliation = Catholic (Congregation of Holy Cross) , endowment = $218 million , president = Robert D. Kelly , students = 3,731 (fall 20 ...

from 2000 to 2002. He totaled 29 goals and 22 assists in his three years there was named West Coast Conference freshman of the year.

Professional

After his 2002 season, Jaqua signed a

Project-40 Generation Adidas is a joint venture between Major League Soccer and U.S. Soccer aimed at raising the level of young professional soccer talent in the United States. The program, sponsored by Adidas, offers professional-ready players in the U.S ...

contract with

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

and entered the 2003 MLS SuperDraft, where he was selected third overall by Chicago Fire. Although Jaqua was expected to fill the hole in the Fire's lineup left by

Josh Wolff Josh Wolff (born February 25, 1977) is an American soccer coach and former player. He is currently the head coach of Austin FC in Major League Soccer. Playing career College Born in Stone Mountain, Georgia, Wolff played three years of coll ...

Damani Ralph Damani Ralph (born 6 November 1980) is a Jamaican retired footballer who played as a forward. His professional career spanned five years, two with Chicago Fire S.C. (2003–2004) and three with FC Rubin Kazan (2005–2007). He also earne ...

quickly took that position, and Jaqua was relegated to a reserve role, starting only five games, scoring two goals and two assists. Although Jaqua remained blocked at forward by Ralph and Ante Razov in the 2004 season,

DaMarcus Beasley DaMarcus Lamont Beasley (; born May 24, 1982) is an American former professional soccer player. A left-footed player, Beasley played both as a left winger and left wingback throughout his career. He retired from soccer after the 2019 MLS Season. ...

's departure to

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; en, Philips Sports Association ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional football department, wh ...

left an open spot in the Fire midfield, which Jaqua soon took. He finished the season having started 21 games for the team, while scoring four goals and two assists. Thereafter, Jaqua continued to be used as an outside midfielder from time to time, however the majority of his appearances came as a forward. Jaqua was chosen to participate in the 2006 MLS All-Star Game, taking on Chelsea F.C. in an exhibition match at the Fire's home field,

Toyota Park SeatGeek Stadium is a soccer-specific stadium in Bridgeview, Illinois, about twelve miles southwest of downtown Chicago. It is the home stadium of the Chicago Red Stars of the National Women's Soccer League, Chicago Fire FC II of the MLS Next ...

. Jaqua played well in the event, which the MLS side won in shocking fashion, 1-0. After the 2006 season, Jaqua was not protected by Chicago in the

2006 MLS Expansion Draft The 2006 MLS Expansion Draft, held on November 17, 2006 was a special draft for MLS expansion team Toronto FC. Toronto FC selected 10 players from a pool of players from current MLS clubs. Format * Only one player could be selected from each team. ...

. Expansion side

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BM ...

selected Jaqua in the November 17, 2006 draft but weeks later traded him to

Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pla ...

in exchange for a partial player allocation. On July 2, 2007, Los Angeles traded Jaqua to Houston Dynamo in exchange for Kelly Gray and a second-round pick in the

2008 MLS SuperDraft The 2008 MLS SuperDraft took place on January 18, 2008 in Baltimore, Maryland. It was the ninth annual Major League Soccer SuperDraft. The first selection was made by the Kansas City Wizards, after acquiring the selection from the expansion San ...

. He signed with

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n side SC Rheindorf Altach on January 28, 2008, but was released despite performing well with the club. On July 13, 2008 he re-signed with Houston Dynamo. However, on November 26 of that year, he was selected by

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began ...

in the first round of the

2008 MLS Expansion Draft The 2008 MLS Expansion Draft took place on November 26, 2008, and was a special draft for the Major League Soccer expansion team Seattle Sounders FC. They made 10 selections from a pool of players from the other 14 MLS clubs. FormatSource * Only ...

. Jaqua stayed with Seattle through the 2011 season. At season's end, the club declined his 2012 contract option and he entered the

2011 MLS Re-Entry Draft The two-stage 2011 MLS Re-Entry Draft took place on December 5, 2011 (Stage 1) and December 12, 2011 (Stage 2). All 19 Major League Soccer clubs participated. The Stage 1 and Stage 2 Drafts were conducted in the same order as the traditional Waive ...

. Jaqua was selected by

New England Revolution The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compet ...

in stage two of the draft on December 12, 2011. He was offered a contract but did not sign with New England.

International

Jaqua has played for the U-18, U-20, and U-23 United States national teams. He got his first cap for the senior team on January 29, 2006, against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

and nearly scored in the U.S. victory.

Honors

Chicago Fire

* Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup (2):

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...

, 2006 *

Eastern Conference Championship (1):

Supporters' Shield (1):

Houston Dynamo

MLS Cup (1):

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

Western Conference Championship (1):

Seattle Sounders FC

* Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup (3):

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, 2011

Individual

* U.S. Open Cup Player Of The Tournament 2010

Personal life

Jaqua grew up on a ranch located on the McKenzie River in Oregon. He is the son of

Jon Jaqua Jon V. Jaqua (born September 10, 1948) is a former American football Safety (American football position), safety in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins. He played college football at Lewis & Clark College. He is the father o ...

, a former

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

player who played for the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) ...

. Jaqua also has a brother Josh who played soccer at New Mexico and Portland. He said if he could not be a professional soccer player that he would be an Olympic skier. Jaqua married Violet Pham of Portland, Oregon, in 2014.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jaqua, Nate 1981 births Living people American expatriate soccer players American soccer players Austrian Football Bundesliga players Chicago Fire FC players Expatriate footballers in Austria Houston Dynamo FC players LA Galaxy players Minnesota Thunder players Sportspeople from Eugene, Oregon Portland Pilots men's soccer players SC Rheindorf Altach players Seattle Sounders FC players United States men's international soccer players University of Portland alumni Soccer players from Oregon A-League (1995–2004) players Major League Soccer players Major League Soccer All-Stars South Eugene High School alumni United States men's youth international soccer players United States men's under-20 international soccer players United States men's under-23 international soccer players Chicago Fire FC draft picks Association football forwards