Jan. 11, 2005

Tulsa, Oklahoma - Soccer America magazine has selected Tulsa two-time All-American Ryan Pore as its 2004 Men's Soccer National Player of the Year. Pore is the first TU men's soccer player to ever receive national player of the year honors.

Less than a week after finishing as a finalist for the Missouri Athletic Club's Hermann Trophy, Pore was picked ahead of Hermann Trophy winner Danny O'Rourke of Indiana and fellow finalist, Gonzalo Segares of Virginia Commonwealth, for Soccer America's top honor.

Three different publications, including the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, Soccer America and CollegeSoccerNews.com named Pore to their All-America first teams. He was named to the MVC Player of the Year for the second straight season, becoming the first player in the conference's 15-year history to receive the award twice, and he was a repeat selection to the all-Midwest and all-MVC first teams.

This past season, Pore led the Golden Hurricane to its greatest season in school history with a 12-7-4 overall record, a Missouri Valley Conference Tournament runner-up finish and Tulsa advanced to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals before falling to eventual national champion, Indiana.

The Mansfield, Ohio native became the first TU player to lead the nation in scoring with 2.40 points per game and tied Maryland's Jason Garey for the most goals in the country. Pore's 55 points and 22 goals are each single-season records, while his 11 assists rank third. His points and goals totals in 2004 also rank second among the MVC's single-season leaders. He scored five goals and recorded three assists for 13 points in TU's four NCAA Tournament games.