Feb. 21, 2017
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Former Penn State men's soccer standout midfielder Connor Maloney (Harrisburg, Pa.) signed with the Columbus Crew Tuesday, Feb. 21.
"I am excited to get to sign my first professional contract with Columbus Crew SC as I has been a dream of mine since I started playing," stated Maloney. "I would like to thank the Crew SC organization for believing in me. I would like to thank my family and friends for their support. Also, I would like to thank Penn State, especially Coach Warming, Coach Duernberger and Coach Griffith for being able to develop me as a soccer player and as a person. It was a great three and a half years full of nothing but great opportunities that I will forever be grateful for. WE ARE…Penn State!"
Maloney is just the ninth player to be drafted to an MLS team and the first to sign a contract since Andrew Wolverton signed with the LA Galaxy in 2015. Furthermore, Maloney is the 31st student-athlete that head coach Bob Warming has had selected in the MLS Draft.
"I am so happy for Connor and his family," commented Warming. "Connor developed and added things to his game while at Penn State and graduated a semester early to prepare for this moment, when he could sign a pro contract with a Penn State degree already in hand. As much as he has progressed, I believe there is still a lot of growth he will have in his game. I believe he will make more progress in MLS because he wants to improve all the time and he has a strong mental makeup. He has already gotten some time playing with the first team as a right back with another one of my former players, Ethan Finlay, on the right wing in front of him. Those are two relentless young men who are a handful for anyone to play against. I am really excited to watch the Columbus Crew this year!"
A four-year starter for the Nittany Lions, Maloney was selected by the Columbus Crew in the third round of the MLS Draft. Maloney has been vital to the Penn State offense for the last four seasons, appearing in and starting 75 matches with 27 goals and 16 assists to total 71 career points in 6,104 minutes on the pitch. In his freshman year he was named to the All-Big Ten Freshman Team after leading Penn State with seven assists.
Moving into his sophomore campaign he paced the Nittany Lions with 10 goals and added three assists en route to a number of accolades including: Big Ten Player of the Year, First Team All-Big Ten, College Sports Madness Big Ten Player of the Year, and College Sports Madness All-America Fourth Team.
The Harrisburg, Pa. native added seven goals and two assists to his tally in his junior season for a team-best 16 points and his second All-Big Ten First Team honors.
In his final season donning the Blue and White the senior midfielder led the Nittany Lions with eight goals and five assists, while putting 23 shots on goal in 1,348 minutes on the field.
Maloney completed his degree in three and a half year and graduated from Penn State in December with a degree in kinesiology.