Long Island Inks Local Product to National Letter of Intent

2/2/06 -- Long Island University men’s soccer coach TJ Kostecky has announced the signing of Ryan Williams to a National Letter of Intent. The Brooklyn native will enroll at LIU for the 2006-07 academic year.

Williams, a forward/midfielder, currently plays for the MetOval U-19 squad. He was an Olympic Development Program (ODP) NE Regional selection for three years (2001, 2003 and 2004).

In addition, Williams represented the Eastern New York State Association at the 2004 US Youth Soccer (ODP) Boys Thanksgiving Interregional Event and the National Pool to Costa Rica, an event which featured the nation’s top young talent.

Williams helped lead the U-17 New Rochelle Raiders to a number of titles in 2005, including the Eastern New York State Cup crown and the coveted Region 1 championship. The US Club Soccer Rankings placed the Raiders third nationally at the close of the 2004-05 season.

He was also part of the New Rochelle squad which won the 2004 Region 1 title. In addition, the team was a Snickers National Finalists and State Cup winner and the Super Y League Metro Division victor.

Ryan was a member of the U-14 Brooklyn Knights Super Y League Regional Finalist team and helped lead the Brooklyn Knights U-15 to the State Cup Semifinals. He was MVP his freshman and sophomore seasons at Friends Seminary. Williams currently attends Midwood High School.

Williams’ father, Ian, played at LIU from 1974-76. His mother, Linette is an assistant dean at the Brooklyn Campus of Long Island University in the School of Business, Public Administration and Information Sciences.

“I am excited to welcome Ryan Williams to our program,” Kostecky says of his signee. “Ryan is a skillful, fast and dynamic player who scores goals. He has the ability to change the outcome of any match and therefore will add an important dimension to our team. With the return of ten starters, I expect him to complement the talented players we return in the fall".
With 19 underclassman dotting its roster, LIU finished the 2005 season with a 6-9-1 overall mark. They return 18 letterwinners and ten starters this fall.