2019 Long Island Soccer Player Hall of Fame

NESCONSET, N.Y. - Feb. 17, 2019 - PRLog -- Melville, NY – Soccer is the number one sport in the world and for many years it would seem that it was the number one sport on Long Island, NY.  America's "first suburb," Long Island, was filled with immigrants from all over the world and of course they brought their culture with them. And "football" or soccer was one of the major influences.

"I created the Long Island Soccer Player Hall of Fame to honor our past.  Too many parents and kids on Long Island currently playing soccer have no idea of the amazingly rich history we have here on Long Island! The Class of 2019 is just the most recent example of the extraordinary players that we have produced on Long Island that we should all be incredibly proud of!" says, Long Island Soccer Player Hall of Fame founder, Kevin L. McCrudden.

The Long Island Soccer Player Hall of Fame will honor its Class of 2019 in its seventh annual awards gala to be held on Saturday, February 23, 2019 at the Huntington Hilton, starting at 7:00 PM. This year's class is a mixture of men and women that have excelled at soccer here on Long Island and beyond!

Carlos Mendes – Current NY Cosmos Coach and former Captain of the Cosmos and New York Red Bulls, and played with the Long Island Rough Riders from Mineola. The third inductee from Wheatley H.S., Shep Messing and Steve Cadet are the other two.

Mark Semioli – Currently a Scout for Major League Soccer (MLS) and played for the NY MetroStars and LA Galaxy from Hauppauge.

Tommy Lips – Currently the Boys Soccer Coach at Smithtown West and played in Germany and for the New England Revolution and here on Long Island for the Rough Riders from Hauppauge.

Twins, Margaret and Jennifer Tietjen.

Margaret Tietjen Rodriguez – Currently the Head Women's Soccer Coach at UCONN and played for the NY Power in the WUSA and the Long Island Lady Rough Riders from Northport.

Jennifer Tietjen Prozzo – Currently an Assistant Women's Soccer Coach at Central Connecticut State College and played in the WUSA as well for the Philadelphia Charge and with her twin sister on the Long Island Lady Rough Riders from Northport.

Here is a list of the current inductees of the Long Island Soccer Player Hall of Fame:

CLASS of 2013
Inductee
Shep Messing
Chris Armas
Paul LeSueur
Kim Wyant

CLASS of 2014
Sara Whalen (Hess)
Sue Ryan
Jackie Shannon
Ritchie Kotshau
Dominic Pedone

CLASS of 2015
Mike Windischmann
Emily Pickering (Harner)
Tommy Lang
Alan Bodenstein

CLASS of 2016
Giovanni Savarese
Paul Riley
Jim Rooney
Mike Masters
Kevin Anderson
Danny Mueller
Danielle Egan (Reyna)
Steve Cadet
Jim Kilmeade

CLASS of 2017
Kim Conway
Gina Tucker
Laura Martin
Caitlin Connolly
Traci Sofsian Maier
Dina Grossman-Case
Christie Welsh

CLASS of 2018
Alain Maca
Dan McCrudden
Ron Eden
John McCrudden
Christopher W. Tyson
Ronnie Atanasio
Jim McGeough*
Bobby Auletta

Anthony Maresco, President of the Long Island Junior Soccer League with clubs in 103 communities across Long Island, said, "The LIJSL congratulates all of the Long Island Soccer Player Hall of Fame (LISPHOF) inductees. We are honored to be a part of the LIPHOF, it allows us to reconnect with the inductees who began their soccer careers in the LIJSL."

One of those players is Carlos Mendes, who started playing at 4 years old in Mineola, but went on to play at Albertson, New Hyde Park and Dix Hills. He played High School soccer at Wheatley H.S. where he won the Jim Steen Award given to the best player in Nassau County.  He was also an Adidas All American. He also played for the ENYYSA ODP (Olympic Development Program) where he was in the national pool for selection into the US Olympic or US National Team.

He went on to play college soccer at Old Dominion where he continued to excel and received All-State, ALL CAA Conference and All South awards, as well as being the CAA Rookie of the year his Freshman year.

Carlos started his professional career right here on Long Island with the Long Island Rough Riders in 2002 before playing with the Rochester Rhinos of the USL and then advancing to Major League Soccer and playing with the New York MetroStars, which became the New York Red Bulls. He played one year with the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer before coming back home and becoming the very first player signed by the restarted New York Cosmos in 2013 where he won 3 NASL Titles in 5 years.

Carlos coached the Cosmos to the NPSL Title last season and was named NPSL Coach of the Year!  "I am very honored and grateful to be inducted into the Long Island Soccer Player Hall of Fame.  Long Island has a rich history of producing many great players and I am very fortunate to be a small part of that. I am truly humbled." Carlos Mendes

"Each of these inductees have earned the right to become Hall of Famers on and off the field, says McCrudden.  They each have unique stories that are told each year at the induction gala and inevitably, the connections within the room literally connect dozens of people with shared soccer histories that we didn't know before.  Like the fact that, Tommy Lips and Mark Semioli played on the same High School team at Hauppauge High School.   Connecting Long Island's soccer past with it's future is more than I could have ever imagined and it happens almost every year right before our eyes.  It's always such a magical evening." concluded McCrudden.