Virginia Men's Soccer Players Alecko Eskandarian and Matt Oliver Named to College Soccer News' 2002 All-America Teams

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Jan. 15, 2003

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – University of Virginia men’s soccer players Alecko Eskandarian (Montvale, N.J./Bergen Catholic) and Matt Oliver (Waldorf, Md./DeMatha Catholic) were selected to College Soccer News’ 2002 All-America Teams. Eskandarian, a third-year forward, was named a First Team All-American selection while Oliver, a third-year defender, was named as an honorable mention selection.

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.

As a junior (in 2002), 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.

Oliver has started all 41 games he has appeared in at Virginia as a defender. He has been a part of 18 shutouts at UVa for his career (11 in 2001, seven in 2002) and has scored two career points resulting from two assists, both game-winners.

In 2002 (as a junior), Oliver was named a Second Team All-ACC choice to go along with his selection as an honorable mention All-America choice by College Soccer News. He was also named to the Virginia Soccer Classic All-Tournament Team (9/1) and to the Maryland/FILA Classic All-Tournament Team (9/8). Oliver recorded his first point of the season when he dished-out the game-winning assist on Alecko Eskandarian’s goal in Virginia’s 3-2 victory over #25 Kentucky in the 2002 Virginia Soccer Classic (8/30). He helped the UVa defense record seven shutouts through the regular season and ACC Championship.

In 2001, Oliver was named Second Team All-ACC and was selected to Soccer America’s All-Freshman Team. He recorded his first collegiate assist (game-winner) when he sent a ball upfield to teammate Ryan Gibbs, who scored the game-winning goal in Virginia’s 1-0 victory over VCU (10/6). Oliver helped Virginia post seven consecutive shutouts on defense over a 37-day period from September 9 – October 17 and helped the Cavaliers record 11 shutouts for the entire season. His stellar play on defense helped Virginia become the first men’s soccer team in ACC history to win all of its games by shutout.

Oliver sat-out the 2000 season to rehabilitate an injury.

#11 Alecko EskandarianForwardJunior * 5-8 * 160Montvale, N.J./Bergen Catholic

Year	GP/GS	Sh	G	A	GWG/GWA	Pts2000	24/22	102	16	6	4/3		382001	16/14	69	9	3	5/0		212002	20/20	101	25	4	6/1		54Totals	60/56	272	50	13	15/4		113

#5 Matt OliverDefenderJunior  * 6-0 * 180Waldorf, Md. * DeMatha Catholic

Year	GP/GS	Sh	G	A	GWG/GWA	Pts2000	0/0	0	0	0	0/0		02001	19/19	10	0	1	0/1		12002	22/22	1	0	1	0/1		1Totals	41/41	11	0	2	0/2		2

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