|
University of
Virginia men's soccer player Alecko Eskandarian (Montvale, N.J./Bergen
Catholic) was named Soccer America's 2002 College Men's Player of the Year.
With his selection as Soccer America's College Player of the Year,
Eskandarian became Virginia's fifth individual men's soccer player to claim
the honor, also marking the sixth time the award has gone to a Cavalier.
Former UVa men's soccer player Claudio Reyna won the award twice in 1992 and
1993, along with A.J. Wood (1994), Mike Fisher (1995), Ben Olsen (1997) and
Eskandarian (2002).
Eskandarian, who was also named the 2002 Missouri Athletic Club's Hermann
Trophy award winner, a NSCAA/adidas NCAA Division I First Team All-American
and the 2002 ACC Player of the Year, finished his playing career at UVa as
of the most decorated players to ever play for the Cavaliers. The 5-8
forward announced on December 16, 2002 he will forego his senior year at
Virginia after signing a project-40 contract to play in Major League Soccer
(MLS). Eskandarian is expected to be one of the top picks in the upcoming
MLS SuperDraft on January 17th.
Virginia's Soccer America Player of the Year Selections:
Year Player
2002 Alecko Eskandarian
1997 Ben Olsen
1995 Mike Fisher
1994 A.J. Wood
1993 Claudio Reyna
1992 Claudio Reyna
Eskandarian played three seasons as a forward at Virginia for men's soccer
head coach George Gelnovatch and established himself as one of the finest
soccer players to ever play for the Cavaliers. He etched his name into
numerous statistical categories in the tradition-rich program at Virginia.
Eskandarian started 56 of the 60 games he appeared in and recorded 4,565
minutes of playing time at UVa. For his career, he recorded 113 points,
scored 50 goals (including 15 game-winners) and dished out 13 assists
(including four game-winners). He also took 272 shots in his three seasons
of play.
In 2002, Eskandarian set a new Virginia school-record for the most goals
scored in a single season at Virginia with 25. He also finished tied for
second all-time at UVa with 54 single-season points and finished tied for
sixth with six single-season game-winning goals in 2002. Eskandarian's 113
career points ranks sixth all-time at Virginia, while his 50 career goals is
fourth all-time at UVa and his 15 career game-winning goals is the third
most in a career ever for a Cavalier. His 272 career shots taken is also the
third highest total in Virginia school history.
In 2002 (as a junior), he was named the Missouri Athletic Club's Hermann
Trophy award winner, Soccer America's Player of the Year, a NSCAA/adidas
NCAA Division I First Team All-American, the ACC Player of the Year, an
All-ACC First Team choice and was named to the 2002 ACC All-Tournament Team.
Eskandarian was also named to the 2002 NSCAA/adidas All-South Atlantic
Region First Team. He was chosen the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the 2002
Virginia Soccer Classic and was named to both the 2002 Virginia Soccer
Classic All-Tournament Team and to the 2002 Maryland/FILA Classic
All-Tournament Team . Eskandarian was named the 2002 Virginia State Player
of the Year and to the 2002 Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID)
First Team and was also named the ACC Player of the Week on three occasions.
As a sophomore (2001), Eskandarian was named to the 2001 All-ACC First Team
and was selected as a 2001 NSCAA/adidas Second Team All-American. He was
also named to the 2001 NSCAA/adidas All-South Atlantic Region First Team,
selected Second Team All-State by the Virginia Sports Information Directors
(VaSID) and named to both the 2001 Virginia Soccer Classic All-Tournament
Team and to the 2001 Maryland/Fila Classic All-Tournament team.
As a freshman (2000), Eskandarian was named the 2000 ACC Rookie of the Year
and a 2000 First Team All-ACC selection. He was also selected as the 2000
Freshman of the Year and was a 2000 Third Team All-America selection by
Soccer America. Eskandarian was named to the 2000 NSCAA/adidas First Team
All-South Atlantic Region squad, selected as the 2000 Player of the Year in
the state of Virginia and was a 2000 First Team All-State selection by the
Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID). He was also named to both the
2000 Virginia Soccer Classic All-Tournament team and to the 2000 Maryland/Fila
Invitational All-Tournament team.
Eskandarian has helped guide Virginia to a record of 49-15-2 (.758) from
2000-2002, including an ACC record of 14-4-0 (.778) in conference play. In
2001, he helped UVa become the first school in ACC history to win all of its
conference games by shutout after going a perfect 6-0-0 in ACC play.
Eskandarian also guided Virginia to the three consecutive ACC Tournament
Championship and to three consecutive trips to the NCAA Division I Men's
Soccer Championship (including a trip to the NCAA Quarterfinals in 2000) in
each of the last three years.
#11 Alecko Eskandarian
Forward
Junior * 5-8 * 160
Montvale, N.J./Bergen Catholic
Year GP/GS Sh G A GWG/GWA Pts
2000 24/22 102 16 6 4/3 38
2001 16/14 69 9 3 5/0 21
2002 20/20 101 25 4 6/1 54
Totals 60/56 272 50 13 15/4 113
In 2002: Started all 20 games he appeared in as a forward ... scored a
team-high 54 points resulting from a team-high
25 goals to go along with four
assists ... scored a team-high six game winning goals ... took a team-high
101 shots ... the men's Missouri Athletic Club (M.A.C.) Hermann Trophy Award
winner ... selected as Soccer America's College Player of the Year ... named
to the NSCAA/adidas Men's NCAA Division I All-America First Team ... named
the ACC Player of the Year ... named First Team All-ACC ... selected to the
ACC All-Tournament team ... named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the
Virginia Soccer Classic ... selected to the NSCAA/adidas All-South Atlantic
Region First Team ... named the Virginia State Player of the Year and to the
Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) First Team ... named to the
Virginia Soccer Classic All-Tournament Team and to the Maryland/FILA Classic
All-Tournament Team ... named the ACC Player of the Week on September 2nd,
October 21st and November 4th ... scored two goals, including the
game-winner, in Virginia's 3-2 victory over #25 Kentucky in UVa's
season-opening match (8/30) in the Virginia Soccer Classic ... scored two
goals (including the game-winner) in Virginia's 5-0 shutout victory over
Hartwick (10/2) ... set a UVa school-record for most goals scored in a
single season with 24 when scored two goals (23rd and 24th of the year) in
Virginia's 4-1 victory over Duke (11/14) in the quarterfinals of the 2002
ACC Championship ... scored a UVa single-season record 25th goal of the year
in Virginia's second round game of the 2002 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer
Championship against William & Mary (11/27) ... scored the game-tying goal
and recorded the game-winning assist in Virginia's 2-1 victory over Rhode
Island (9/1) in the Virginia Soccer Classic ... scored two goals, including
the game-winner, in Virginia's 4-1 victory over VCU (9/6) and scored two
more goals in UVa's contest with Penn State (9/8) in the Maryland/FILA
Classic ... scored two goals, including the game-winner, and added an assist
in Virginia's 4-0 shutout victory over N.C. State (9/28) ... scored two
goals (including one goal by converting a penalty kick) in Virginia's 3-0
shutout victory over Marshall (10/2) ... recorded two goals (including an
unassisted game-winner) and added an assist in Virginia's 5-2 win against
Liberty (10/16) ... scored the lone goal in a 1-0 shutout victory over #5
Maryland (11/1) ... notched a goal a mere nine seconds into Virginia's 2-1
victory over American (10/26) ... collected a rebound to score in Virginia's
3-1 victory over #18 Duke (10/20) ... recorded a goal and an assist in
Virginia's contest against #4 Clemson (10/13) ... scored a goal on a
one-timer in Virginia's 3-2 win over Old Dominion (10/23) ... scored UVa's
only goal against #16 North Carolina (9/21) ... scored a goal in Virginia's
6-0 victory over Temple (11/8).
In 2001: Recorded 1,321 minutes of playing time after starting 14 of the 16
games he appeared in ... finished second on the team with 21 points
resulting from a team-high nine goals with three assists ... posted a
team-high five game-winning goals ... named First Team All-ACC ... selected
as a NSCAA/Adidas Second Team All-American ... named to the NSCAA/Adidas
All-South Atlantic Region First Team ... named Second Team All-State by the
Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) ... selected to the 2001
Virginia Soccer Classic All-Tournament Team ... named to the 2001 Maryland/Fila
Classic All-Tournament team ... scored two goals, including the game-winner,
in Virginia's 4-2 victory over American (9/7) in the 2001 Maryland/Fila
Classic ... posted the game-winning goal 1:49 into overtime in Virginia's
1-0 overtime victory over Duke (10/20) ... posted the game-winning goal when
he scored a goal off of a free-kick in Virginia's 2-1 victory over Mercer
(10/17) ... scored UVa's third goal of the contest on a one-timer and
assisted on two goals by teammate Ryan Gibbs in Virginia's 7-1 victory over
UNC-Greensboro (10/30) ... scored UVa's first goal of the season in
Virginia's 2-1 victory over Liberty in the 2001 Virginia Soccer Classic
(8/31) ... recorded the game-winning goal when he chipped-in a five yard
shot set-up by teammates Kyle Martino and Jonathan Cole in Virginia's 1-0
victory over Wake Forest (9/17) ... posted the game-winning goal when he
received a cross from teammate Kirk Dinnal and fired a one-timer for score
in Virginia's 2-0 victory over East Carolina (10/24) ... scored the
game-tying goal in UVa's 2-2 tie with UCLA in the 2001 Virginia Soccer
Classic (9/2) ... assisted on Steve Totten's goal in Virginia's 3-0 shutout
victory over Maryland (11/4) ... lettered.
In 2000: Recorded 1,858 minutes of playing time after starting 22 of the 24
games he appeared in ... posted team-highs with 38 points, 16 goals and six
assists ... four of his goals and three of his assists were game-winners ...
took a team-high 102 shots ... named the ACC Rookie of the Year and a First
Team All-ACC selection... named the ACC Player of the Week (9/4) after he
scored three goals and recorded one assist (seven points) in his first two
games as a Cavalier ... named the 2000 Freshman of the Year and was a Third
Team All-America selection by Soccer America ... selected to the Soccer
America Team of the Week (9/13) ... named to the NSCAA adidas First Team
All-South Atlantic Region squad ... named the Player of the Year in the
state of Virginia and a First Team All-State selection by the Virginia
Sports Information Directors (VaSID) ... named to the Virginia Soccer
Classic All-Tournament team ... named to the Maryland/Fila Invitational
All-Tournament team ... scored a goal in Virginia's 5-0 victory over Lehigh
in the first round of the NCAA Tournament (11/19) ... by scoring his 16th
goal of the season against Lehigh in UVa's 5-0 victory over the Mountain
Hawks in the first round of the 2000 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer
Championship, he became Virginia's all-time leader in points scored by a
freshman (38 points) - broke current head coach George Gelnovatch's school
record record of 37 points scored by a UVa freshman - his 16 goals also tied
Gelnovatch's record mark of 16 goals scored in a single season by a freshman
at Virginia ... scored two goals (including the game-winner) in Virginia's
3-1 victory over Elon (10/18) ... scored the game-winning goal after Ryan
Trout crossed a pass from mid-field in Virginia's 3-1 victory over North
Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C. (9/24) ... scored his first collegiate goal in
his Virginia debut when he netted UVa's first goal of the season in a 3-2
victory over South Florida (9/1) in the Virginia Soccer Classic ... scored
two goals and added an assist in Virginia's 7-1 victory over Jacksonville
(9/3) in UVa's second game of the Virginia Soccer Classic ... posted the
game-winning assist when he sent a corner kick to teammate Jonathan Cole,
who then headed the ball into the Duke goal in Virginia's 3-0 victory over
Duke in the ACC Tournament semifinals (11/10) ... recorded his 15th goal of
the season in Virginia's 2-0 shutout victory over Providence (10/29) when he
gathered a cross from teammate Jacob LeBlanc and fired a shot from 12 yards
out ... scored UVa's first goal of the game (his 14th of the season) in
Virginia's 4-1 victory over American (10/25) ... recorded his second
game-winning goal of the season when Sheldon Barnes sent a pass to him that
he gathered and beat VCU's goalkeeper in Virginia's 1-0 overtime victory
over VCU (9/20) ... scored both of Virginia's goals against William & Mary
(9/27) ... scored his 11th goal of the season when Ryan Trout sent a cross
that he chipped-in from 10 yards out in Virginia's 3-2 victory over Clemson
(10/15) ... dished-out two assists, including the game-winning assist on
Ryan Gibbs' goal in Virginia's 2-0 victory over Maryland (11/3) ... recorded
his first collegiate game-winning assist when played a ball upfield to Ryan
Gibbs, who then scored the game-winning goal in Virginia's 2-0 victory over
Wake Forest (9/16) to give UVa it's first ACC victory, first shutout and
first road win of the 2000 season ... scored two goals, including the
game-winner, and tallied an assist in Virginia's 6-1 victory over N.C. State
(10/1) ... scored his 10th goal of the season in UVa's 3-2 double-overtime
victory over James Madison (10/4) ... lettered.
High School: Selected as the 2000 Gatorade National Player of the Year ...
named a National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas
All-American ... chosen as the NSCAA/adidas New Jersey State Player of the
Year after leading the state of New Jersey in scoring with 66 goals and 15
assists through 25 games during his senior year ... named a first team
All-State selection by the Associated Press in 1999 ... is a three-time
All-State selection ... two-time team Most Valuable Player (MVP) and was
twice named to the NSCAA All-East team ... played soccer on the 1999 U.S.
Under 17 National team for coach John Ellinger ... participated on the 2000
Olympic Developmental Program (ODP) Region I Team ... coached by current UVa
men's assistant coach Craig Reynolds on the ODP Region I Team ... won four
letters at Bergen Catholic High School under coach Jim McGirr.
Personal: Born on July 9, 1982 in Washington
Township, New Jersey ... son of Andranik and Anna Eskandarian ... father
played professional soccer for the New York Cosmos ... brother, Ara, played
soccer at Villanova.
|
