The 2013 season will be Shawn Kuykendall's fourth season on Head Coach Todd West's staff. In 2010, he joined the Eagles as a volunteer assistant, and in March 2011, he was promoted to an assistant coach.
In his three seasons on the coaching staff, the Eagles have reached three straight Patriot League Championship Games, posting an 13-4-4 conference record. AU captured the 2011 and 2012 Patriot League regular season titles.
A four-year star on AU’s soccer squad from 2001-04, Kuykendall’s 2005 graduating class is the only one in program history to earn three NCAA Tournament berths. After graduating from American, Kuykendall was selected in MLS Supplemental Draft in the fourth round (48th overall pick) by D.C. United. In 2006, he was traded to the New York Red Bulls.
Kuykendall’s mark can be seen throughout the AU men’s soccer record books, as he finished his career tied for second all-time in assists (29), fifth in points (75) and seventh in goals (23). He has two of the top five highest single-season assist outputs in American history, as he dished out 11 in 2002 (tied for second-most) and 10 in 2004 (fifth-highest).
As a senior in 2004, Kuykendall was named the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year, the only Eagle to ever earn that distinction. He was a three-time All-South Atlantic Region pick and an All-Patriot League selection in both 2002 and 2004. Kuykendall also earned PL Academic Honor Roll honors in 2003.
Prior to his days at American, Kuykendall was a member of the Braddock Road Warhawks. His squad won six state championships and captured the national title in 1999. He was also a member of the Under-16 national team while in high school.
Shawn is the son of Kurt Kuykendall, an AU alumnus in 1974 and former member of the men’s soccer team. In 1973, Kurt was named an All-America selection, one of four American men’s soccer student-athletes to earn All-America status in the program’s rich history. He was inducted into American University’s Stafford H. “Pop” Cassell Hall of Fame in 1996. Additionally, Shawn’s brothers, Kristofer and Jason, both played collegiate soccer at American.
