Following a stellar four years with Grand Canyon University (GCU), defensive midfielder Marios Andreou will be transferring to the University of Portland for his graduate studies.
Andreou, a former Cyprus U21 NT player, captained GCU to a record-setting era with the Lopes ranked 12th in the nation in back-to-back seasons, their highest end-of-season rankings to date.
As a freshman, Andreou was a key player in GCU's first-ever conference tournament winning team, being named in the conference's freshman team of the year. Overall in four seasons with the Lopes, the team made the WAC conference championship final three times and participated in the NCAA tournament three times, reaching the second round in 2020. In addition to success on the pitch, Andreou was named in the conference's ''All-Academic'' team in 2021.
Andreou will be pursuing his MBA degree at the University of Portland which was the #3 ranked university in the West according to the U.S News & World Report for 2022. Last season Portland finished the season ranked in the top 25 soccer programs in Division 1, as well as making the NCAA tournament.
The Pilots boast one of college soccer's most ardent fanbases. Over the years their 4,892-capacity soccer-specific stadium, Merlo Field, has sold out several times.
Andreou will be joining fellow JSA athletes, Gurman Sangha and George Tasouris. He will become the second midfielder from Cyprus to play for the Pilots, following in the footsteps of Christoforos Kourtis who recently graduated from Portland with a master's degree in Operations and Technology Management.