March 7, 2006

ONEONTA, N.Y. - Former University of North Carolina women's soccer stars Carla Werden Overbeck, Tisha Venturini-Hoch and Jena Kluegel join retired U. S. National Team players Alexi Lalas and Roy Lassiter are among the 10 newcomers eligible for election to the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2006.

Among the other first-time eligible players are Los Angeles Galaxy midfield leader Mauricio Cienfuegos, Columbus defender Mike Clark, MLS veterans Chad McCarty and Tom Presthus. and U. S. Women's National Team and WUSA veteran Nikki Serlenga and Tisha Venturini-Hoch.

Overbeck, Kluegel and Venturini-Hoch were all first-team All-Americas during their careers at Carolina as well as being veterans of the U.S. Women's National Team.

Overbeck took the field 168 times for the U. S. and won FIFA Womenís World Cups in 1991 and in 1999 as captain of the U. S. Team, scoring the first penalty in the final.

The Hall of Fame ballot will be distributed this week. The announcement of the new Hall of Famers will be made at a press conference in Giantsí Stadium and on ESPN2 at halftime of the April 22nd Major League Soccer national telecast featuring the MetroStars vs. D. C. United.

The newcomers join forty-seven players who were on 2005 ballot, which resulted in the election of Marcelo Balboa, John Harkes, and Tab Ramos to the Hall of Fame. Leading vote getters on the ballot include National Team veterans Thomas Dooley and Hugo Perez, in his last year of eligibility. They were the only additional candidates to those elected who surpassed the 50% barrier.

The two players who receive the most votes are elected to the Hall of Fame each year as long as they are named on at least 50% of the ballots cast. A third candidate may be elected if that candidate is named 80% of the ballots cast. Players are eligible for election following their third year of retirement from professional soccer and can stay on the ballot for up to ten years following retirement. In order to become eligible for the Hall of Fame, a player must have played at least 20 full international games for the United States or five seasons in a United States first-division pro league, and have met certain other qualifications.

Several players are on the ballot for the final time. These players will be eligible for election to the Hall of Fame through the Veteranís process should they not be elected this year. Among them are Desmond Armstrong, Eric Eichmann, and Bruce Murray of the 1990 World Cup squad and Mary Harvey of the 1991 Womenís World Cup team. Also in their final year are the two players with NASL experience, Hugo Perez and Perry Van der Beck.

There are four groups of voters in the Hall of Fame Playersí Election: 1) Media selected by the Hall of Fame in conjunction with Major League Soccer and U. S. Soccer Communications departments, 2) Hall of Famers, 3) Present and Former U. S. Menís and Womenís National Team Coaches and MLS coaches with 4 or more years of tenure, and 4) Select U. S. Soccer and MLS league and team executives. In 2005 120 ballots were distributed and 108 returned.