Kevin Friedland (born October 3, 1981) is an American former soccer player, who played as a defender. In high school, he was ''

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boys’ soccer player of the year. Playing for

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , ...

, he was a second-team All American. Professionally, he played for the

Minnesota Thunder Minnesota Thunder was an American professional soccer team based in Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1990, the team played in the USL First Division (USL-1), the second tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, until 2009. The team played its home ...

NSC Minnesota Stars NSC may refer to: Sport and competition * NSC United, an American soccer team * National Scholastics Championship, an American quiz bowl competition * National Scrabble Championship, now known as the Scrabble Players Championship * National Sho ...

, and Minnesota United FC. Friedland was part of the US squad which won the silver medal at the 2005 Maccabiah Games in Israel.

Early life

Friedland is from New Brunswick, New Jersey, and lived in

Irvine, California Irvine () is a master-planned city in South Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s and the city was formally incorporated on December 28, 197 ...

Career

Youth and college

Friedland attended and played soccer at Woodbridge High School in Irvine, California. He was ''

boys’ soccer player of the year. Friedland played club soccer for local club Strikers FC. He attended

, where he was a second-team All American in soccer in 2002.

Professional

Friedland was drafted in the sixth round (53rd overall) of the

2003 MLS SuperDraft The 2003 MLS Superdraft was held January 17, 2003 in Kansas City, Missouri. It was the fifth annual SuperDraft held by Major League Soccer. Player selection Any player whose name is marked with an * was contracted under the Project-40 Generat ...

by Kansas City Wizards. However, he never played a league game for the team and was waived on November 25, 2003. In 2004, he signed with the

of the

USL First Division The USL First Division (usually referred to as USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States and Canada from 2005 to 2010. During its existence, it formed the second tier of soccer in the United States soccer league system ...

. On April 2, 2008, he signed a one-year contract, with a two-year option, with the Thunder. On March 4, 2010, Friedland was signed as a player/assistant coach for the newly formed club

. He was a player/assistant coach for Minnesota United FC. In November 2013, he announced his retirement. Friedland made over 160 appearances, and won the 2011 NASL Soccer Bowl. At the time, at 10 years he was Minnesota's second-longest active professional athlete with a Minnesota team, trailing only Kevin Williams (

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...

International

Friedland was part of the US squad which won the silver medal at the 2005 Maccabiah Games in Israel. He also played for Team USA with

Kyle Altman Kyle Marten Altman (born January 31, 1986) is an American former soccer player, who last played for Minnesota United FC in the North American Soccer League. He was the 2003 New Mexico High School Coaches Association's Class 4A boys' soccer pla ...

, winning the gold medal at the 2007 Pan American Maccabi Games in Argentina.

References

External links

Minnesota United FC bio
1981 births Living people Jewish American sportspeople Jewish footballers American soccer players Competitors at the 2005 Maccabiah Games SMU Mustangs men's soccer players Maccabiah Games medalists in football Maccabiah Games silver medalists for the United States USL First Division players Sporting Kansas City players Minnesota Thunder players Minnesota United FC (2010–2016) players USSF Division 2 Professional League players North American Soccer League players Sporting Kansas City draft picks Association football defenders Soccer players from California Soccer players from New Jersey Sportspeople from Irvine, California Sportspeople from New Brunswick, New Jersey North American Soccer League coaches 21st-century American Jews Minnesota United FC non-playing staff Player-coaches {{US-footy-defender-stub