Panayiotis Alexiou "Peter" Vagenas (born February 6, 1978) is an American former soccer player.

High school and college

Vagenas graduated from Saint Francis High School in

La Cañada Flintridge LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figur ...

, class of 1996, where he played for coach Glen Appels and captained the team to a CIF Southern Section Championship his senior year, as well as being named CIF SS divisional player of the year. Vagenas played club soccer for

Afshin Ghotbi Afshin Ghotbi ( fa, افشین قطبی, born 8 February 1964 in Tehran) is an Iranian-American football coach who works as head coach of Vancouver FC in the Canadian Premier League. Early life Afshin Ghotbi was born in Tehran. He is the son ...

. He played

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United K ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

from 1996 to 1999, leading them to the NCAA title in 1997, and finished his career there with 15 goals and 30 assists in 82 games. He was elected team MVP during his campaign at UCLA.

Career

Professional

Vagenas was drafted by

Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pla ...

in the second round of the 2000 MLS SuperDraft and subsequently spent nine years with the team, winning the U.S. Open Cup in 2001 and 2005, and the

MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conferen ...

in 2002 and 2005, captaining the team to the 2005 double. Vagenas missed most of 2007 and 2008 due to injury, but during his time with Galaxy he scored 14 goals and 12 assists in 183 league appearances, plus added two goals and two assists in the playoffs. He was a fan favorite with Galaxy due to his energetic play and local roots (earning him the nickname "Pasadena Pete"). On November 26, 2008, Vagenas was selected by Seattle Sounders FC in the

2008 MLS Expansion Draft The 2008 MLS Expansion Draft took place on November 26, 2008, and was a special draft for the Major League Soccer expansion team Seattle Sounders FC. They made 10 selections from a pool of players from the other 14 MLS clubs. FormatSource * Only o ...

. After two seasons with Seattle, Vagenas was traded to

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, lat ...

on November 22, 2010. After the trade Colorado declined Vagenas's contract option and he elected to participate in the 2010 MLS Re-Entry Draft. Vagenas became a free agent in Major League Soccer when he was not selected in the Re-Entry draft; after a couple of months out of the game he signed for expansion side

Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March ...

in April 2011. At season's end, Vancouver declined his 2012 contract option and he entered the 2011 MLS Re-Entry Draft. Vagenas was not selected in the draft and became a free agent. He was signed by

Chivas USA Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional soccer team based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California. The club played from 2005 to 2014 in Major League Soccer (MLS) and was a subsidiary of Mexican club C.D. G ...

on February 22, 2012. His contract expired after 2012 and he made himself eligible for the

2012 MLS Re-Entry Draft The two-stage 2012 MLS Re-Entry Draft took place on December 7, 2012 (Stage 1) and December 14, 2012 (Stage 2). All 19 Major League Soccer clubs were eligible to participate. The Stage 1 and Stage 2 Drafts were conducted in the same order as the t ...

in December 2012. Vagenas became a free agent after he went undrafted in both rounds of the draft.

International

Vagenas played for the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...

, scoring three goals, all on penalty kicks. He earned his first cap for the senior national team on October 25, 2000 against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, but injuries have curtailed his appearances at the international level. He has earned three caps to date. He was also the captain and leading scorer in the

1999 Pan American Games The 1999 Pan American Games, officially the XIII Pan American Games or the 13th Pan American Games, was a major international multi-sport event that was held from July 23 to August 8, 1999, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and surrounding towns and ...

in Canada for the USA national team.

Statistics

Personal life

Peter was born to Alex and Tassia Vagenas. He and his three siblings, George, Theoni and Dino were raised in Pasadena, California. Vagenas now resides in Pasadena along with his wife Mindy.

Honors

Los Angeles Galaxy

* CONCACAF Champions' Cup (1):

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in that country. The 2023 U.S. O ...

(2): 2001, 2005 * Major League Soccer MLS Cup (2): 2002, 2005 * Major League Soccer Supporters' Shield (1): 2002 * Major League Soccer Western Conference Championship (2): 2002, 2005

Seattle Sounders FC

(1): 2009

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vagenas, Peter 1978 births Living people American soccer players Sportspeople from Pasadena, California American people of Greek descent Soccer players from California UCLA Bruins men's soccer players University of California, Los Angeles alumni LA Galaxy players Seattle Sounders FC players Vancouver Whitecaps FC players Chivas USA players United States men's international soccer players Olympic soccer players of the United States Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Expatriate soccer players in Canada LA Galaxy draft picks Major League Soccer players United States men's under-23 international soccer players Association football midfielders Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in football Footballers at the 1999 Pan American Games