Klukowski Named ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American

Yan Klukowski became the sixth Blue Devil to be named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American Team on Wednesday, as released by CoSIDA. The senior captain received third team honors for his performance on and off the field this season. Klukowski is a physical education major at Central Connecticut and led the Blue Devils to a Northeast Conference Championship and the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2007.

This season Klukowski led CCSU with eight goals and five assists. The Wiltshire, England native was named NEC Player of the Week twice in 2008 before receiving All-NEC First Team honors. He was named to the College Soccer News National Team of the week after scoring his first career hat trick against St. Bonaventure.

Klukowski is the second CCSU men's soccer player to receive Academic All-American honors. His former teammate, Alex Harrison, was named to the Academic All-America team in 2006. Sabrina Mariani and Ryne Nutt each received the accolades twice for women's soccer and football, respectively.

For his career the midfielder has totaled 24 goals and 27 assists. Klukowski was an All-NEC honoree all four seasons at CCSU and an All-Region performer in his sophomore and junior campaigns. In 2006 he led the nation in assists per game with a mark of .73 and was named the NEC Rookie of the Year as a freshman.

To be eligible for the national team, a student athlete had to have been selected to its District's first team. Initial nomination criteria at the District level includes being a varsity starter or key reserve, maintaining a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, reaching sophomore athletic and academic standing at his current institution and be nominated by their sports information director.