Jake Rozhansky

Jake Michael Rozhansky (; born 4 July 1996) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a midfielder. During his career, he has previously appeared for D.C. United U-23, Maccabi Netanya, Hapoel Katamon Jerusalem, Hapoel Afula, and Maccabi Herzliya.

Born in Germantown, Maryland, Rozhansky attended Montgomery Blair High School and played youth soccer with the Olney Rangers and Bethesda Olney clubs. He played his first two collegiate seasons at Virginia, winning a national title with the Cavaliers as a freshman, before transferring and spending his final two seasons at Maryland. While in college, Rozhansky appeared with D.C. United U-23 and represented the United States at the 2017 Maccabiah Games, winning a gold medal. He was drafted by Columbus Crew SC in the 2018 MLS SuperDraft, but instead chose to go overseas and sign in Israel with Maccabi Netanya. After two seasons with Netanya and a loan spell at Hapoel Katamon Jerusalem, Rozhansky joined Hapoel Afula in 2019.

A native-born American citizen, Rozhansky claimed Israeli citizenship as an adult through the Law of Return.

Early life

Rozhansky was born on 4 July 1996 in Germantown, Maryland. He attended Montgomery Blair High School, but played just one year of high school soccer for the Blazers, instead spending his youth at the club level with Olney Rangers and Bethesda Olney. He won the Golden Ball at the 2013 US Youth Soccer National Championships during his final year with Olney Rangers. With Bethesda Olney, Rozhansky was part of the club's first team to take part in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy (USSDA), where they qualified for the national final. Among his teammates at Bethesda Olney were Jeremy Ebobisse, Chase Gasper, Carter Manley, and Gedion Zelalem.

While still in high school, Rozhansky was called up to multiple youth national team camps. In July 2012, he took part in a training camp for the United States U17 national team. Two years later, he was called up by the under-20s for a training camp in Raleigh, North Carolina. He was the subject of interest from English club Arsenal in 2012, but ultimately was not pursued by the Premier League side. Rozhansky committed to play college soccer at the University of Virginia. He was part of a recruiting class that also included Jeff Caldwell and Peter Pearson.

College and amateur

Rozhansky made his Virginia debut on 29 August 2014, playing the entirety of a 1–0 victory over Old Dominion. He started all but two matches during his freshman season, helping the Cavaliers become national champions after defeating UCLA on penalties in the College Cup. In the second round of the NCAA Tournament, Rozhansky tallied his first collegiate goal to help Virginia advance past UNC Wilmington. He finished the season with one goal and four assists in 23 appearances and was named to both the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) All-Freshman Team and the College Cup All-Tournament Team.

Ahead of his sophomore year, Rozhansky was called up by the United States U23 national team, taking part in a college identification camp in the lead-up to the 2015 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship. In the collegiate season, he led the Cavaliers in scoring, tallying four goals in 14 appearances. That goal-scoring mark included strikes in three straight games in September and a goal against Rider in the first round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament. Rozhansky was named to the All-ACC Second Team at the end of the 2015 season.

He initially left school to trial with clubs in Europe, including a stint at SC Freiburg in Germany, but instead returned to college and decided to transfer. He finished his time at Virginia with five goals and four assists in 37 appearances.

After also considering Georgetown and UCLA, Rozhansky transferred to Maryland ahead of his junior season. He made his debut for the Terrapins in the 2016 season opener against UCLA, a match that ended in a 1–1 draw. He tallied his first Maryland goal on September 13, providing the match-winner in a double-overtime victory over Rutgers, then scored twice more before the end of the month. Rozhansky finished the season with three goals and eight assists in 21 appearances and was named to the 2017 ''Jewish Sports Review'' Division 1 Men's Soccer All-America Team.

He was named as a team captain ahead of his senior season, alongside George Campbell and Chase Gasper. In the 2018 season opener, Rozhansky tallied his first career multi-goal game, as the Terrapins defeated Santa Clara 4–2. He added a goal in September and one more in the first week of October, finishing the year with four goals and a team-high 9 assists in 19 appearances. At the end of the year, Rozhansky was named to the All-Big Ten Conference First Team. He finished his Maryland career with 7 goals and 17 assists from 40 appearances.

D.C. United U-23

Following his freshman season at Virginia, Rozhansky appeared for D.C. United U-23 in the Premier Development League (PDL). He appeared in six matches and scored three goals for the club, including a brace against Baltimore Bohemians in June. During the summer of 2017, Rozhansky was also with the team, but the U-23s were not part of a league and only played exhibition matches.

Maccabiah Games

Ahead of his senior year of college, Rozhansky was selected to the United States squad to compete in the 2017 Maccabiah Games. He appeared in all six matches the Americans played in the tournament, finishing as the Golden Boot winner with six goals. In the championship match against Great Britain, Rozhansky scored a hat trick to carry the United States to a 3–0 victory and a gold medal. He later credited the tournament with opening the door for him to sign professionally in Israel, saying "If I hadn't gone to the Maccabiah Games I would not have decided to come play professionally in Israel. The Games provided me a way to further my professional career."

Club career

Rozhansky was selected to take part in the 2018 MLS Combine, but dropped out and instead chose to sign overseas. Although he had already signed a contract in Israel, Rozhansky was still selected 44th overall in the 2018 MLS SuperDraft by Columbus Crew SC, who retained his Major League Soccer rights for two seasons.

Maccabi Netanya

After impressing during an initial trial, Rozhansky signed his first professional contract with newly promoted Israeli Premier League club Maccabi Netanya on 11 January 2018. Since he is Jewish, Rozhansky was able to claim Israeli citizenship and was classified as a domestic player. He made his debut for Netanya on January 29, replacing Aviv Avraham

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