Wojtek Krakowiak

Krakowiak moved to Clifton, New Jersey with his family in 1993, and became a United States citizen in March 2000.[1] He graduated from Clifton High School in 1995 and is a member of the Clifton High School Hall of Fame. During his two seasons at Clifton, he scored seventy-nine goals, a school record. In the fall of 1995, he entered St. John's University where a torn anterior cruciate ligament led him to redshirt his freshman season. In 1996, he was part of the Red Storm team which won the NCAA Men's Division I Soccer Championship. He transferred to Clemson University for his junior season where he scored thirty-one goals and added eight assists. That year, he was selected as an All-American and won the Hermann Trophy.[2]

Krakowiak left Clemson at the end of the season and moved to Europe where he had trials with teams in Belgium and Germany. On February 7, 1999, the San Jose Clash selected Krakowiak in the second round (fifteenth overall) in the 1999 MLS College Draft.[3] Krakowiak had dropped so low in the draft because his pursuit of a European career. He returned to the United States during the summer of 1999 to train with the Clash, but did not sign with them before returning to Europe to play in the German third division. He also played three games with the Charleston Battery of the USL A-League in August 1999.[4] In February 2000, he signed with the San Jose Earthquakes, playing two seasons before being waived on June 12, 2001. The Tampa Bay Mutiny signed him on June 30, 2001. He played 75 minutes in an away game against the Kansas City Wizards but was waived on July 20, 2001, to make room for Danny Pena. In 2003 and 2004, he played for the New Jersey Stallions in the Premier Development League.