Kevin Alston was a unanimous first-team All-Big Ten selection and was a key player in Indiana's run to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals. |
Soccer Standout Alston To Turn Pro
Dec. 22, 2008
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana University junior defender Kevin Alston (Silver Spring, Md./Edison [Fla.] Academy) has decided to forgo his senior year with the Hoosiers and will instead seek professional playing opportunities, it was announced Monday.
Alston is coming off his most successful season in a Hoosier uniform, starting all 24 matches and recording three goals and one assist. Alston scored Indiana's first goal of the year in a 2-1 win over Duke in the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic and got the scoring started in a 3-1 win over then-No. 9 Notre Dame on Oct. 16. His third goal of the season came in a 2-0 victory over No. 23 Saint Louis in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Big Ten coaches rewarded Alston's play with a unanimous selection to the All-Big Ten first team. He was part of 10 Indiana shutouts this season, including eight against ranked opponents. He was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 1 and picked up national weekly honors from Soccer America, College Soccer News and Top Drawer Soccer.
"Kevin Alston has had a tremendous playing career at Indiana University," said head coach Mike Freitag. "We will miss him like we like we do of all our departing players. I am so proud of Kevin. I have seen him develop into an outstanding young man and into one of the best defenders in the country. It is a great compliment to our program that the pros want him. We wish him a long and prosperous professional career. He will go down of one of IU Soccer's all- time greats."
Alston joins a long line of Indiana soccer greats who have entered the professional ranks, including current MLS players Nick Garcia (San Jose Earthquakes), Ned Grabavoy (San Jose Earthquakes), John Michael Hayden (Houston Dynamo), Chris Klein (Los Angeles Galaxy), Dema Kovalenko (Real Salt Lake), Drew Moor (F.C. Dallas), Pat Noonan (Columbus Crew), Danny O'Rourke (Columbus Crew), Jacob Peterson (Colorado Rapids), Josh Tudela (Los Angeles Galaxy) and Jed Zayner (Columbus Crew).
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Alston played club soccer for the Potomac Cougars under coaches David Kelley and Arnold Tarzy and helped the Cougars to the Maryland State Cup title in 2003 (U-15) and 2004 (U-16), beating the Casa Mia Bays. He also played for D.C. United in the Super Y League in 2002 and 2003 and played one season at Our Lady of Good Counsel High School in Wheaton, Md. before moving on to the U-17 Residency Program in Bradenton, Fla. Alston was part of the United States' 2005 FIFA U-17 World Cup team which won its group with a 2-0-1 record and advanced to the semifinals. He also represented the U.S. at the Pan Am Games in the summer of 2007.
