Former Penn State men’s soccer captain Aaron Molloy was selected by the Portland Timbers with the No. 16 overall pick in the MLS SuperDraft Thursday.

The center midfielder has served as Penn State’s captain since the 2018 season and helped lead the program to a statement second-place Big Ten finish and NCAA Tournament appearance last fall. He scored nine goals and assisted six others for the Nittany Lions, who posted a 12-4-3 record in 2019. He received a series of honors throughout his time at Penn State, including a second-team All-American selection at the end of the 2019 season.

Molloy’s professional potential has been apparent since he arrived in Happy Valley as a sophomore in 2017 after spending a season with Kaiser University in Florida. Early draft projections placed him just outside the top 10 at No. 12, but he fell just a few spots below.

He’ll join the Timbers, who finished 14-13-7 last year, as they prepare to open their 2020 season in March.

Molloy is Penn State’s first first-round draft selection in the last eight years. He follows the program’s most recent draftees — Robbie Sagel and Connor Maloney — who were selected in the third and fourth round in 2017, respectively.