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Aug. 31, 2000
University of Virginia men’s soccer player Kyle Martino (Westport, Conn./Staples) was named to Soccer America’sSecond Team Pre-Season All-America list. Martino was one of six players from the Atlantic Coast Conference named to Soccer America’sfirst or second team.
Martino, 5-9 central-midfielder, is in his second season at Virginia and has opened a lot of eyes with his style of play. A natural playmaker, Martino has the ability to dazzle with his footwork. He possesses a great combination of speed, footwork and deceptive moves with nice blend of technique, skills and movement. Martino entered the 1999 season as one of the top incoming first-year players in the country. He made a significant impact on the team as a first-year starter and was eventually named the 1999 ACC Rookie-of-the Year. Martino was also tabbed a First-Team All-ACC selection and was chosen to the ACC All-Tournament team.
He played his way into a starting role from the beginning of the `99 season and gathered 1436 minutes of action during the regular season and logged 1971 minutes through the NCAA Tournament. Martino started all 23 games he appeared in and was second on the team with seven assists, including two game-winning assists in victories over Cal State Fullerton (10/29/99) and Ohio State (11/5/99). He finished third on the squad with 21 points resulting from seven assists and seven goals. Three of Martino’s seven goals were game-winning markers scored in the Cavaliers 2-1 victory over North Carolina (9/25/99), a 3-0 decision over Marshall (10/20/99) and a 3-1 victory over Brown (11/28/99) in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. He also scored the first postseason points of his career when he tallied a goal after heading a crossing pass from teammate Ryan Gibbs in Virginia’s 2-1 triple-overtime victory over Princeton in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Other highlights from Martino’s 1999 season included recording UVa’s only goal in a 2-1 triple-overtime loss to Duke in the ACC Championship game (11/14/99). He posted his first collegiate goal in a 2-1 win over Virginia Tech (9/22/99) and tallied his first collegiate assist in UVa’s 1-1 tie with Wake Forest. Martino recorded four assists in UVa’s last five regular season games and scored a goal in three consecutive games against Duke (11/14/99) in the ACC Championship game, Princeton (11/21/99) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and Brown (11/28/99) in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. He either scored a goal or had an assist in eight games during the regular season.
Prior to UVa, Martino was a four-year letterwinner at Staples High School and was named the Gatorade National Player of the Year and Parade All-American his senior year. He was the NSCAA Connecticut State Player of the Year, the Connecticut Post Athlete of the Year and the Connecticut Junior Soccer Association Player of the Year. Martino was also named an all-state and all-county selection.
Here is a look at Soccer America’sfirst and second teams:
Soccer America’sPre-Season All-Americans
First Team
Position Name School YearGoalkeeper Adam Zapala Stanford Sr.Defender Chris Gbandi Connecticut Jr.Defender Cory Gibbs Brown Sr.Defender Lee Morrison Stanford Jr.Midfielder Matt Goldsmith Furman Jr.Midfielder Mark Lisi Clemson Sr.Midfielder Brent Rahim Connecticut Sr.Forward Conor Casey Portland Soph.Forward Ali Curtis Duke Sr.Forward John Berry Nusum Furman Jr.Forward Ricardo Villar Penn State Sr.
Second Team
Position Name School YearGoalkeeper T.J. Hannig Indiana Sr.Defender Nii-Amar Amamoo Duke Sr.Defender Nick Downing Maryland Jr.Defender Oguchi Onyewu Clemson Fr.Midfielder Carl Bussey SMU Jr.Midfielder Anthony Curtis Rhose Island Soph.Midfielder Kyle Martino Virginia Soph.Forward Giuliano Celenza UMBC Sr.Forward Mohamed Fahim SMU Soph.Forward Winston Griffiths Rhode Island Sr.Forward Flavio Monteiro UAB Soph.