Jake Rozhansky


Jake Michael Rozhansky is an American soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Israeli club Hapoel Afula. During his career, he has previously appeared for D.C. United U-23, Maccabi Netanya, and Hapoel Katamon Jerusalem.
Born in Germantown, Maryland, Rozhansky attended Montgomery Blair High School and played youth soccer with the Olney Rangers and Bethesda Olney clubs. He played his first two collegiate seasons at Virginia, winning a national title with the Cavaliers as a freshman, before transferring and spending his final two seasons at Maryland. While in college, Rozhansky appeared with D.C. United U-23 and represented the United States at the 2017 Maccabiah Games. He was drafted by Columbus Crew SC in the 2018 MLS SuperDraft, but instead chose to go overseas and sign in Israel with Maccabi Netanya. After two seasons with Netanya and a loan spell at Hapoel Katamon Jerusalem, Rozhansky joined Hapoel Afula in 2019. He is an Israeli citizen, claiming citizenship through the Law of Return.

Early life

Rozhansky was born on July 4, 1996 in Germantown, Maryland to parents from the Soviet Union. He attended Montgomery Blair High School, but played just one year of high school soccer for the Blazers, instead spending his youth at the club level with Olney Rangers and Bethesda Olney. He won the Golden Ball at the 2013 US Youth Soccer National Championships during his final year with Olney Rangers. With Bethesda Olney, Rozhansky was part of the club's first team to take part in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy, where they qualified for the national final. Among his teammates at Bethesda Olney were Jeremy Ebobisse, Chase Gasper, Carter Manley, and Gedion Zelalem.
While still in high school, Rozhansky was called up to multiple youth national team camps. In July 2012, he took part in a training camp for the United States U17 national team in Carson, California. Two years later, he was called up by the under-20s for a training camp in Raleigh, North Carolina. Rozhansky appeared in three exhibition matches during this camp, including a game against Carolina RailHawks, but never officially earned a cap at either level for the United States. He was the subject of interest from English club Arsenal in 2012, but ultimately was not pursued by the Premier League side. Rozhansky would eventually commit to play college soccer at the University of Virginia. He was part of a recruiting class that also included Jeff Caldwell and Peter Pearson.

College and amateur

Rozhansky made his Virginia debut on August 29, 2014, playing the entirety of a 1–0 victory over 25th-ranked Old Dominion. He went on to start all but two matches during his freshman season, helping the Cavaliers become national champions after defeating UCLA on penalties in the College Cup. In the second round of the NCAA Tournament, Rozhansky had tallied his first collegiate goal to help Virginia advance past UNC Wilmington. He finished the season with one goal and four assists in 23 appearances and was named to both the Atlantic Coast Conference All-Freshman Team and the College Cup All-Tournament Team.
Ahead of his sophomore year, Rozhansky was called up by the United States U23 national team, taking part in a college identification camp in the lead-up to the 2015 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship. In the collegiate season, he went on to lead the Cavaliers in scoring, tallying four goals in 14 appearances, although he did miss four matches due to injury. That goal-scoring mark included strikes in three straight games in September and a goal against Rider in the first round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament. Rozhansky was named to the All-ACC Second Team at the end of the season. He initially left school to trial with clubs in Europe, including a stint at SC Freiburg in Germany, but chose not to turn professional and instead returned to college and decided to transfer. He finished his time at Virginia with five goals and four assists in 37 appearances.
After also considering Georgetown and UCLA, Rozhansky transferred to Maryland ahead of his junior season. He made his debut for the Terrapins in the 2016 season opener against UCLA, a match that ended in a 1–1 draw. He scored his first Maryland goal on September 13, providing the match-winner in a double-overtime victory over Rutgers, then scored twice more before the end of the month. Rozhansky finished the season with three goals and eight assists in 21 appearances. He was named as a team captain ahead of his senior season, along with George Campbell and Chase Gasper. In the 2018 season opener, Rozhansky tallied his first career multi-goal game, helping the Terrapins defeat Santa Clara by a 4–2 scoreline. He added a goal in September and one more in the first week of October, finishing the year with four goals and a team-high nine assists in 19 appearances. Rozhansky was named to the All-Big Ten Conference First Team, alongside fellow Terrapin Eryk Williamson, and was selected as a candidate for the Senior CLASS Award. He finished his Maryland career with seven goals and 17 assists in 40 appearances.

D.C. United U-23

Following his freshman season at Virginia, Rozhansky appeared for D.C. United U-23 in the Premier Development League. He appeared in six matches and scored three goals for the club, including a brace against Baltimore Bohemians in June. During the summer of 2017, Rozhansky was also with the team, but the U-23s were not part of a league and only played exhibition matches.

Maccabiah Games

Ahead of his senior year of college, Rozhansky was selected to the United States squad to take part in the 2017 Maccabiah Games; the team also included his collegiate teammate Aaron Franco and Sam Raben. He appeared in all six matches the Americans played in the tournament, finishing as the Golden Boot winner with six goals. In the championship match against Great Britain, Rozhansky scored a hat trick to carry the United States to a 3–0 victory. He later credited the tournament with opening the door for him to sign professionally in Israel, saying “If I hadn’t gone to the Maccabiah Games I would not have decided to come play professionally in Israel. The Games provided me a way to further my professional career.”

Club career

Rozhansky was selected to take part in the 2018 MLS Combine, but dropped out and instead chose to sign overseas. Although he had already signed a contract in Israel, Rozhansky was still selected 44th overall in the 2018 MLS SuperDraft by Columbus Crew SC, who retained his Major League Soccer rights for two seasons.

Maccabi Netanya

After impressing during an initial trial, Rozhansky signed his first professional contract with newly-promoted Israeli Premier League club Maccabi Netanya on January 11, 2018. Since he is Jewish, Rozhansky was able to claim Israeli citizenship and was classified as a domestic player. He made his debut for Maccabi Netanya on January 29, replacing Aviv Avraham in the 84th minute of a 2–1 victory against Beitar Jerusalem. He earned his first start for the club two weeks later, getting the nod for an away fixture against Hapoel Haifa and playing 45 minutes of a 2–0 defeat for Netanya. Rozhansky made 13 appearances for the Diamonds after signing, helping the club to a fifth-place league finish. His initial six-month contract expired in June, but on May 13 the club extended Rozhansky's contract for two more seasons.

2018–19: Loan to Hapoel Katamon

Rozhansky began the 2018–19 season in the squad at Netanya, appearing in all five of the club's matches in the Toto Cup Al. In order to gain playing time, however, he was sent on loan on September 11, joining Hapoel Katamon Jerusalem in the Liga Leumit. Rozhansky made his debut in the second tier the next day, coming off the bench in a 1–0 victory against Hapoel Petah Tikva. His first start for Katamon came on September 25 in the final of the Toto Cup Leumit, a 1–0 victory against Hapoel Marmorek that saw the club win their first-ever cup title. Rozhansky continued to be a regular presence in the club's lineup throughout the season, although he primarily appeared as a substitute: 17 of his 28 league appearances on the year came off the bench. He tallied his first goal for the club, and his first professional goal, on April 15, providing the winning margin in a 2–1 victory over Hapoel Nazareth Illit. Rozhansky scored one goal in 31 appearances in all competitions for Hapoel Katamon, to go with his five appearances on the year for Maccabi Netanya. At the end of the season, however, he was informed by Netanya manager Slobodan Drapić that he was no longer in the club's plans and with one year left on his contract should look for a new club.

Hapoel Afula

After ending his contract with Netanya, Rozhansky joined Liga Leumit club Hapoel Afula on June 21, 2019. He signed for one year with an option for a second season. Just weeks before the season began, it was revealed that Rozhansky was one of seven players who could not be registered as the club did not have the money to pay their salaries. It was rumored that he may have to be released for the club to become financially compliant, but Rozhansky was eventually registered as a Hapoel Afula player. He missed the Toto Cup Leumit due to the confusion, eventually making his debut for Afula on September 23 in a league defeat against Hapoel Ashkelon. He scored his first goal for the club on December 9, tallying the lone score of a 1–0 victory over Hapoel Ramat Gan.

Career statistics

Honors

;Virginia
;Maryland
;Hapoel Katamon Jerusalem
;Individual