Ploutarchos Alonefti, widely recognized as one of the best players in Division 2, will be making the step up to Division 1 this Fall. He will be transferring to the University of Lipscomb for his undergraduate and graduate studies. Alonefti who captained Thoi Lakatamias in the Cyprus Second Division as a teenager, began his collegiate career in 2019 at the University of Charleston, West Virginia. In his first season in the US, Alonefti won a national championship. This season he led Charleston to back-to-back national championship games, losing in the championship final to Cal State La. His performances were rewarded with three major awards, including being named in the Best XI in all of Division 2.
The Lipscomb Bisons are one of the rising programs in D1 soccer, with national championship appearances in 2017, 2018 where they made it to the last 16, and in 2021. In addition the Bisons have won three conference tournaments in the past 4 seasons. This season, having won their regular season championship, they dominated opponents in the conference tournament, winning 4-0 in the semifinal and 4-1 in the final. Success on the pitch has also led to players moving on to professional clubs, with Bakary Bakayogo signing a contract with Sporting Kansas City last February.
Lipscomb University boasts a state of the art soccer complex, that has been used by the US Men’s National Team in the past.
The campus is less than 5 miles distance from downtown Nashville, home to some of the world’s most famous music venues
The university which is ranked in the top 200 in the nation academically, is located in one of the most vibrant cities in the US. Nashville or ”Music City” as it is commonly known, is most famous for its significance to the music industry and country music in particular. In addition to an NFL and an NHL team, Nashville has its own professional soccer team in the MLS, Nashville SC.