BROOKLYN, N.Y. – LIU Brooklyn head men's soccer coach TJ Kostecky has announced the addition of transfer Frej Engberg to the Blackbirds roster. Enberg, who is enrolled for the spring semester at LIU, spent this past fall season at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and will have four years of eligibility beginning in the fall of 2016.
"I'm delighted to have Frej join our program," said coach Kostecky of the new transfer. "He's a focused, mature and likeable young man whose experience competing with the U19 Swedish national team will help us continue to move forward. His comfort on the ball will enhance our possession and free thinking style of play."
Engberg hails from Danderyd, Sweden, where he attended Vittra Sodermalm, a high school in Stockholm. The Swedish product spent his first collegiate season at the University of North Carolina, where he was a member of the men's soccer roster as a defender, playing both the left and center back positions. The Tar Heels advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to Creighton this past November.
Engberg played for Djurgarden IF from 2008-14, a club that competes in the top Swedish tier, Allsvenskan. He previously played for the IK Sirius club team from 2014-15 and appeared in eight matches for the U19 Swedish national team. The redshirt freshman will join a Blackbird family that will have a few familiar faces, having already played alongside freshmen starters and Northeast Conference All-Rookie Team members Erik Wahlin and Filip Nordstrom in their native Sweden.
LIU Brooklyn won its first Northeast Conference Tournament championship crown in over a decade this past season, becoming just the third team in NEC history to finish the league schedule unbeaten and untied. The Blackbirds, who fell in penalty kicks in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament to Rutgers, are set to return nine of their 11 starters from this past season and will enter their 2016 campaign with a 13-match unbeaten streak dating back to September 2015.