Avon’s Riley Strassner, center, recently signed a letter of intent to attend Georgetown. Strassner sits with his parents, Jennifer and Jon.
AVON – Avon High senior Riley Strassner has signed a letter of intent to play soccer at Georgetown next fall. He is one of six recruits signed by the Hoyas, who had six players sign with Major League Soccer.
“We’re really happy with the Class of 2020 as the group is both talented and a great fit for Georgetown” Hoya head coach Brian Wiese said.”With six of our players from the 2015 team leaving for MLS careers, we have a lot of holes to fill in the lineup for next year. A lot of these players will have opportunities to contribute early in their careers.
Georgetown was 16-2-3 last fall and 9-0 in the Big East.
Strassner played three years with the Avon High varsity soccer team, scoring 58 goals with 41 assists. Only J.D. Kosakowski scored more goals in a Falcon uniform with 60 goals from 1985-88. Strassner scored 34 goals in a single season as a junior, second only to Kosakowski who scored 35 in 1988. In 2014, Strassner had a school record eight hat tricks (three or more goals in a single game).
Strassner helped the Falcons earn a piece of the Class L championship in 2014. This past fall, Strassner trained with Oakwood Soccer Club, which also won a state championship. Strassner’s 10 goals as a freshman and 34 as a junior are Avon High single season records.
Strassner also played with the Region I Olympic development program team, traveling to Italy, Germany and France.
“Riley is someone who is big, strong and fast and has wonderful athletic traits and aerial ability that could translate into either being an imposing target forward or center back,” Wiese said. “He has natural leadership skills on the field and great work rate. It will be interesting to see which end of the field he ends up patrolling.”
Strassner is also an outstanding swimmer. He has won two Class M titles in the 200-meter freestyle as a sophomore and junior to earn All-State honors. In both of those years, he finished second at the State Open in the 200 freestyle.
He is the captain of this year’s Falcon swim team.
A member of the National Honor Society at Avon, Strassner participates in Habitat for Humanity and Kids for Kids. His older sister, Jillian, played three years of soccer at Quinnipiac University, scoring nine goals in 42 games.
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