JERSEY CITY, NJ…Former New Jersey City University men’s soccer star MARIO GOMEZ (Jersey City, NJ/Dickinson), who in a two-season career from 2000-01 was arguably the greatest player in school history, and was the first Gothic Knight player ever drafted by Major League Soccer, has been called up to the Honduran National Team.
Gomez, who has starred at midfielder for C.D. Vida FC, in the Honduras First Division, will be in uniform when Honduras faces the United States National Team in Albuquerque, NM on Saturday, March 19 at 4pm EST. The tune-up friendly match will be broadcast live on Fox Soccer Channel. The U.S. is 5-2-3 all-time against Honduras. Honduras will also face Trinidad and Tobago on March 22.
"I am very happy for Mario,” said NJCU head coach KEVIN EAST, who recruited the former All-State and All-Hudson selection and Most Valuable Player at the 1999 New Jersey Seniors All-Star game. “I know this has always been a dream of his to one day play for the Honduran National Team. His selection to the national team is even more meaningful because he will represent the country where he was born and play against the country he grew up in.”
Following his sophomore year at NJCU, Gomez, a quick and deadly accurate center midfielder, was selected in the fourth round of the February 2002 Major League Soccer SuperDraft by the MetroStars with the 56th overall pick. He played the 2002 MLS preseason with the MetroStars, before signing a professional contract in his native Honduras. He was one of only two Division III collegiate players selected in that season’s six-round rookie entry draft.
He had spent the 2001 off-season competing as a member of the MetroStars’ developmental team, the North Jersey Imperials.
Gomez was voted the New Jersey Athletic Conference Rookie-of-the-Year in 2000, and led NJCU to its first-ever NJAC Championship game on November 3, 2001. He also helped the team to a No. 1 seed and first-ever appearance in the finals of the ECAC tournament on November 11, 2001.
“The first time I saw Mario play I thought he was a special player full of talent,” East recalled. “He proved that everyday in games and practice with us. But what really separates Mario from others is his tremendous work ethic.”
Gomez burst onto the scene as a freshman for the Gothic Knights during the 2000 season, when NJCU finished with a then-school record 13-7-2 mark, leading NJCU to the fifth seed in the NJAC tournament, and a third spot in the ECAC tournament. The phenom electrified the field with his play, scoring 12 goals and contributing five assists for 29 points and three game-winning goals en route to the 2000 NJAC Rookie of the Year award. East, who himself was a 1996 selection of the Columbus Crew in the MLS Supplemental draft during the first year of the league, and was later called up to the MetroStars for the 1998 and 1999 seasons, earned NJAC Coach of the Year honors that same season.
Gomez’ sophomore season was equally as impressive, as he guided NJCU to a 17-7 showing, which remains a single-season record for victories, since matched by the 2004 club. In 17 games, Gomez had 24 points, including 10 goals and four assists. He was chosen Second-Team All-NJAC and First-Team All-Region.
Gomez may be most remembered for a goal that, almost out of a Hollywood script, will go down as among the most significant in school history, at the 2001 NJAC Semifinals. On Halloween afternoon, the NJCU star stole a throw-in from Kean University near midfield, 10 yards from the left sideline. He proceeded to loft a high, hard shot in the air that bounced into the Kean net from nearly 50 yards away at 108:59 of the second sudden-death overtime period as the Gothic Knights, shocked top-seeded and No. 4 nationally-ranked Kean, 2-1, to advance to their first-ever NJAC men’s soccer title game. It is still the highest ranked opponent NJCU had ever defeated.
In just two seasons and 36 total games, Gomez ended his career as the fourth leading scorer in program history with 22 goals and nine assists for 53 points. He utilized his awesome skills to blast 134 shot attempts. Today, he ranks seventh in program history in scoring, tied for eighth in goals, fifth in shots, sixth in shots per game (3.72), and seventh in shots on goal. His 29 points in 2000 are tied for eighth best in school history.
“I am not aware of any players from our conference or even in Division III ever being called up to represent their full national team, so we are very proud of Mario,” East noted. “It is rare for Division I programs to have their players make the full national team. It is great to see one of your former players have so much professional success like he has had these last couple of years. I am really excited for him. He has earned this."
—www.njcugothicknights.com—
