Garden City, N.Y. – On Saturday, March 9, women's soccer head coach
Chris Armas was part of the inaugural class inducted into the Long Island Soccer Player Hall of Fame. Armas was a standout soccer player for St. Anthony's High School, spent four years playing for Adelphi and had an impressive professional career in the MLS.
The inaugural class included some of the great soccer players from Long Island over the last quarter century. Armas joined Shep Messing and Paul LeSueur, former New York Cosmos standouts from the 1970's, and Kim Wyant, a Lady Rough Rider goalkeeper as the first class to be inducted.
Armas grew up in Brentwood, N.Y. and played for Head Coach Bob Montgomery upon his arrival at Adelphi. A four year member of the men's soccer team, Armas helped the Panthers to a 43-24-10 record and three straight NCAA Division I Tournament appearances. Prior to graduating in 1994, Armas earned multiple awards for his performance on the field and in the classroom which included two All-New York State and NSCAA All-Region selections, two CoSIDA Academic All-America nods, a CoSIDA Academic All-District kudos and was named an NSCAA All-American Honorable Mention during his senior year. In 2005, he was honored with inclusion into Adelphi's Athletic Hall of Fame; the 13
th member from the men's soccer team to be inducted.
His MLS career includes stints with the Long Island Rough Riders and Los Angeles Galaxy before playing 10 years for the Chicago Fire. There, he helped them to their first and only MLS Championship, was named to the MLS Best XI on five occasions and was also named US Soccer Athlete of the Year in 2000. Rounding out his professional career, Armas made 66 appearances for the US National Team.
“I'm thankful to the Long Island Soccer Player Hall of Fame for this great honor and am proud to say that I came up through the LIJSL," said Armas. "I learned my most valuable soccer and life lessons on the fields of Long Island as a youth and these lessons built the foundation that I carried throughout my career."
