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This week US Soccer announced the 2018 nominees for the National Soccer Hall of Fame. Brian Ching and Pat Onstad were joined by Stuart Holden on this year’s ballot. All three players were part of the back-to-back MLS Championships in Houston.
Stuart Holden joined the Dynamo in 2006 and stayed with the club until 2010 when he headed to England to play for the Bolton Wanderers. He appeared 99 times for the Dynamo in the MLS regular season and playoffs, scoring 16 goals and assisting on 14 others. He was part of the youth national team that competed at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. He earned 25 caps as a member of the USMNT making the roster for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and was also part of the 2013 Gold Cup-winning team. Holden retired from soccer in 2013.
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Brian Ching remains the all time leading scorer for the Houston Dynamo with 56 goals in MLS regular-season play and 69 across all competitions. In the 2006 MLS Cup Ching scored the game-tying goal in overtime and converted the winning penalty kick in the penalty shootout to help Houston win the MLS Cup.
Also a member of the USMNT he was capped 45 times by the U.S. Men’s National Team and scored 11 goals. Ching was part of the 2006 FIFA World Cup squad. This is Ching’s second year of eligibility for the Hall of Fame.
Goalkeeper Pat Onstad played in 136 regular season games for Houston and holds a number of the club’s goalkeeping records. Onstad holds club records for wins, shutouts, saves and Goals-Against Average. He played for the San Jose Earthquakes, Houston Dynamo and DC United during his MLS career.
He made his senior national team debut for the Canadian Men’s National team on February 18, 1988 and played for the team over the course of 22 years. In that time Onstad was capped 57 times. 2018 is the fourth year that Onstad has been eligible for the Hall of Fame.
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Voting started on Monday, March 12 and runs through Monday, March 26 for the Player, Veteran Player and Builder categories. The National Soccer Hall of Fame is set to open at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas on October 20. The 2018 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will take place later that day.
2018 National Soccer Hall of Fame Player Ballot
Juan Pablo Angel*
David Beckham
Gregg Berhalter
Carlos Bocanegra*
Steve Cherundolo
Brian Ching
Bobby Convey*
Jeff Cunningham
Jay DeMerit*
Brad Friedel*
Kevin Hartman
Frankie Hejduk
Thierry Henry*
Stuart Holden*
Eddie Johnson*
Chris Klein
Eddie Lewis
Lori Lindsey*
Kate Sobrero Markgraf
Pablo Mastroeni
Clint Mathis
Tiffeny Milbrett
Heather Mitts
Jaime Moreno
Ben Olsen
Pat Onstad
Steve Ralston
Ante Razov**
Tony Sanneh
Taylor Twellman
Aly Wagner
Josh Wolff
*First year of eligibility
**Final year of eligibility; moves to Veteran ballot in 2019
2018 National Soccer Hall of Fame Veteran Ballot
Mike Burns
Kevin Crow
John Doyle
Marco Etcheverry
Linda Hamilton
Shep Messing
Cindy Parlow
Tiffany Roberts
Tisha Venturini-Hoch
2018 National Soccer Hall of Fame Builder Ballot
Esse Baharmast
Dr. Robert Contiguglia
Joe Cummings
Tim Leiweke
Francisco Marcos
Kevin Payne
Steve Sampson