Aidan Gormley
Aidan Gormley -- Soccer 1985-88
An intelligent and fiercely competitive player Aidan Gormley was the epitome of the term "student-athlete." While his soccer career cannot be quantified with eye-popping numbers of goals and assists, Gormley's defensive play earned him acclaim as one of the finest defensive players in school history. In the classroom, he was an outstanding student who was honored on the conference, state and regional levels for his academic excellence.
A native of Belfast, Ireland, Gormley was one of six highly touted recruits on the 1985 soccer squad. He started 17 contests that season, earning first team All-Association of Mid-Continent Universities (AMCU) honors, despite not recording a single point all season. He was also the freshman since John Vanoostveen in 1978 to be named CSU's Most Outstanding Player. Gormley made the Dean's List in both the winter and spring quarters and was a member of the Viking golf squad in the spring of 1986.
The following fall, Gormley was co-captain of the 1986 team that went 12-6-1 and won the second AMCU soccer title in school history with a 4-0-0 mark. Gormley was a starter in 18 games and scored his lone collegiate goal in CSU's 3-1 win over conference rival Illinois-Chicago. He was again named the Vikings' Most Outstanding Player and repeated as a first team All-AMCU selection. In addition to picking up firs team All-Ohio and All-Mideast honors, he was named All-Academic Ohio and Mideast for his hard work in the classroom.
Despite CSU struggling through its first losing season since 1966, Gormley was once again solid during the 1987 campaign. Serving as team captain, he started in 19 contests, contributing his first two collegiate assists. The first was in a 5-1 win over Miami (Ohio) and the second came in the 4-0 blanking of Illinois-Chicago. For the second straight season, Gormley was All-Academic Ohio and Mideast, while earning first team All-AMCU, second team All-Ohio and honorable mention All-Mideast honors for his play on the field.
Gormley ended his career with another outstanding year both on the field and in the classroom. Selected captain for the third consecutive year, he started all 21 games in guiding CSU to an 11-7-3 overall record and a 4-0-1 mark as the AMCU co-champions. He notched an assist in CSU's 2-1 victory over Marquette and another helper in the Vikes' 5-1 win versus Western Illinois. He was named to the All-Tournament teams at the Akron Zip Classic and at CSU's tournament. Gormley was All-Academic AMCU and was named CSU's Most Outstanding Player yet again, as well as being tabbed first team All-Ohio and All-Mideast. His career was capped with an invitation to play in the Senior Bowl in St. Louis. Gormley captained the West squad to a 2-0 victory and earned Defensive Player of the Game honors as the lone participant to play all 90 minutes.
Gormley is a 1989 graduate of Cleveland State with a Bachelor's Degree in Communication. In 1992 he received his Master's in Business Administration. He earned Dean's List honors in eight different quarters and is CSU's only four-time All-Conference performer (all of which were first team). He is just one of three Vikings to be named CSU's Most Outstanding Player three times and ranks second on CSU's all-time list with 75 games started.
