MORROW, Ga. – Former Clayton State standout men's soccer player Chris Klute is continuing his professional career with the best team at the highest level after joining the Major League Soccer Champion Portland Timbers in the offseason.
 
While only with the Lakers for the 2011 season, Klute was an extremely impressive defender for the Blue and Orange. That year, after transferring from Division I Furman, he played every minute of 18 games, anchored a Clayton State defense that produced four shutouts and assisted on the game-winner against a strong Tampa squad.
 
That year would also see him earn a pair of All-Southeast Region First-Team honors from Daktronics and the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). At the time he would become just the fourth player to achieve First-Team recognition from both organizations in the same season, joining Jamal Geathers (2007), Igor Lukic (2010) and Ryan Pugh (2010). He is still one of just five all-time to do that with Alhagi Toure joining that list in 2013.
 
Klute was also an All-Peach Belt Conference First-Team selection and was named PBC Defender of the Week on September 7, 2011.
 
With the growth of professional soccer in the United States over the previous 15 years, and having had so much success at the college level, he couldn't pass up the opportunity to turn pro following his sophomore season.
 
After seeing action in just one game with the Colorado Rapids during the 2012 season, he would become a regular in their lineup for the next three seasons. In 2013 he would play in 31 games, starting all but one of them, and log a career-high seven assists. Klute would see action in 25 games with 24 starts the following season before being traded to the Columbus Crew in 2015, where he would start eight of his 14 contests.
 
Following the season, the Grand Prairie, Texas native had the opportunity to join the top team in MLS, the newly minted champion Portland Timbers. It seems as though he is poised to return to full form during the 2016 season if one is to gauge the outlook from the Timbers coaching staff.
 
"He is an ideal fit in our system," said head coach Caleb Porter. "With a role that suits his strengths, he can become one of the most effective left backs in MLS."
 
For Klute's part, he fully understands both the opportunity and privilege to be counted among some of the best professional soccer players in the United States.
 
"I was very excited for the opportunity to join the Timbers," said Klute. "I get to wake up every morning, train and get better at soccer. That's my job and not everyone can say that. It's a good life."