Knights Under Lights: Peter Vermes
In Knights Under Lights, The Daily Targum looks at athletes who distinguished themselves during their time on the Banks.
Peter Vermes' time on the Rutgers men's soccer team started differently than most.
Vermes joined the Scarlet Knights in 1985 after playing his freshman season at Loyola Maryland. Vermes quickly settled into his role, providing Rutgers with a much-needed boost in its attack.
Vermes enjoyed success in each and every season on the Banks, but his senior campaign was his finest by far. In 1987, Vermes scored 21 goals and recorded 15 assists to lift the program to the Region Finals of the NCAA Tournament.
That tournament saw Vermes score the winning goal against Seton Hall, marking the program's first victory in the tournament. Vermes was named a First Team All-American for his exploits and finished second in National Player of the Year voting.
Vermes more than made his mark with the Knights, graduating with the sixth-most goals scored in program history. Vermes also went on to make his mark on a global scale at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.
Vermes made multiple appearances for the U.S. National team, including when he was called for the 1990 World Cup.
Professionally, Vermes became the first American to compete in both Holland and Hungary's professional soccer leagues. He bounced around to many different teams and leagues and had a professional career spanning more than a decade.
On the international stage, Vermes played his very best.
At center back for his nation, Vermes was a critical cog in the machine that ultimately fell far short of their lofty goals. The U.S. Olympic Team would go winless in the group stage with two draws and a loss.
Vermes' efforts, though, would not go unnoticed. The former Rutgers star was awarded the 1988 Chevrolet U.S. Male Soccer Athlete of the Year for his meteoric rise to international stardom.
In 1996, Vermes received the opportunity he was hoping for all along, as the U.S. became home to a new soccer league called the MLS. Vermes was drafted by the New York/New Jersey MetroStars in the league's inaugural draft.
In one season with the MetroStars, Vermes played every single minute in all 30 games for a total of 2,700 minutes played. Following the league's first year, Vermes signed with the Colorado Rapids, where he continued to play nearly every minute of every game, but his team finished mid-table for three straight years.
That offseason, Vermes saw a chance to change that, inking a new deal with the Kansas City Wizards through 2002. In his first season with his new club, Vermes helped the Wizards finish first in the MLS, achieving his first and only Best XI All-Star appearance and winning the MLS Championship.
Vermes retired after two more seasons, but his time in the world of professional soccer was far from over. In 2006, Kansas City hired the former Knight as the club's technical director.
Less than three years later, Vermes was named manager and has since become the longest-tenured head coach in MLS history, sporting the fourth-most coaching wins with 183. In his time with the Wizards, Vermes led the club to eight consecutive postseason appearances from 2011-2018, winning three Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cups and one MLS Cup in the process.
Vermes has forged a legacy of success in the years since his graduation from Rutgers, and with his 1998 induction into the Athletics Hall of Fame, his name will live on long after him. Vermes' love and passion for the game he played has inspired millions both at home and abroad.
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