seaside, california – Monterey Bay FC announced Tuesday that the club has signed defender Alex Lara ahead of the 2023 USL Championship season. The signature is pending league and federation approval.
Azusa, Calif. native spent last season at fellow championship club Las Vegas Lights FC, playing 33 games and recording 2,862 hours, the second-most minutes on the team. He added a team-leading number of clears (158) and blocks (33), and won defensively with 53 interceptions and 44 tackles. Lara finished his year with his 83.2% passing accuracy and his 1 goal.
The 24-year-old spent two seasons in what was then the championship, competing for Hartford Athletic, making 29 regular season appearances and recording 1,764 minutes of action.
Prior to joining the professional ranks, Lara played college in Northridge, California from 2017-2019. After earning Second Team All-Big West honors in his final college season before signing with Athletic. While at Hartford, Lara spent the 2020 season playing as teammates with current Monterey Bay FC winger Alex Dixon He then played Crisp & Kelp’s first signing, Wolmer Martinez, for the 2021 season.
“I am very excited about signing with Monterey Bay. I am ready to get to work and do what I can to help the team,” said Lara. “I look forward to playing [MBFC Head Coach] Frank [Yallop]He has a lot of experience both as a coach and as a player, so I am ready to learn as much as I can from him. .
“I had some friends on the team who had played with Alex and Wolmer before and they had great things to say about the club. We will do our best to advance to
