Feb. 28, 2013
We head north to Long Island, N.Y., to meet the third member of Vanderbilt soccer’s 2013 signing class: defender Krystina Iordanou.
Iordanou has been a four-year starter for Head Coach Gail Baker at Friends Academy. After serving as captain for a Quaker squad that advanced to the state semifinals last season, she was named the Player of the Year in her section and earned first-team All-State honors.
A four-star prospect according to Top Drawer Soccer, Iordanou is ranked No. 76 on the IMG Academy 150. The service considers her a top-five player in the state of New York and a top-20 defender nationally.
Iordanou plays her club soccer for Coach Michael Demakis and Albertson Elite Fury alongside future Commodore teammate Sasha Gray.
A dual citizen of the United States and her father’s home country of Cyprus, Iordanou played as an amateur for Apollon Ladies last summer in the Women’s Champions League in Europe, registering her first cap and first goal as a Cypriot.
Iordanou has attended ECNL id2 National Training Camp and traveled to Spain last year to represent the United States. This March, she again will join that squad to play for a multi-national cup in Russia.
At Friends Academy, Iordanou has lettered in lacrosse and basketball during the offseason from soccer. She also is an outstanding student, a leader of her Quaker education club, and donates time every week to serve her community.
Personal: Krystina Marie Iordanou… Prefers to be called Tina… Born Dec. 27, 1995, in Mineola, N.Y…. Daughter of Marianne and Constantine “Dinos” Iordanou… Dinos played professional soccer in his homeland of Cyprus… Youngest of three sisters… Danielle played soccer at Northwestern University… Alexandra earned an accounting degree from William & Mary… Plans to major in communications at Vanderbilt.
Head Coach Derek Greene on Iordanou:
“To say that we are excited to have Tina joining us would be an understatement. She was one of the first players we identified in the class of 2013 as a really high want and need for us at Vanderbilt. We worked very hard recruiting her and beat out some top-flight schools.
“Tina brings an impressive skill set to the field. With her height, she certainly stands out in the air as one of the best you’ll see in the women’s game. She has a truly great left-footed service, which adds a dimension of sophistication and class that a lot of teams won’t be able to deal with effectively.
“Tina’s overall competitive spirit is huge. She plays so hard and demands so much of herself, that when you’re on the field with her, you want to follow her lead and you want to compete to win, because Tina expects that of herself and of her teammates.
“We see her having an opportunity to come in center back or defensive midfield. She’s very good dribbling the ball from deep positions in the field and distributing, and she can absolutely crush a ball. If she gets anywhere within shooting range, she’s going to have an opportunity to score.”
