UC San Diego's keeper, Josh Cohen '14, is the sole American college player currently competing with nine other Americans in the UEFA Champions League.
 
Cohen got the start last week in the net for Maccabi Haifa F.C. vs. the renowned Portuguese team S.L. Benfica to start UCL group play. Seeing a total of 14 shots with five on goal and three saves, Cohen battled for 90 minutes in his Champions League debut. Benfica was able to net two goals after a scoreless 45-minute first half to take the win.
 
Since joining Maccabi Haifa in 2019, Cohen has led the team to two Israeli Championships in 2021 and 2022 with three cup wins over two years. In 2021, Cohen was voted Israeli Premier League's Player of the season after allowing only 29 goals in 36 regular games and recording 12 clean sheets. The club is currently undefeated in the IPL and 0-1 in the UCL group play.
 
The Mountain View product graduated from UC San Diego in 2014 with a degree in Bioengineering. During his time in the gold and blue, he earned numerous honors such as NSCAA All-America First Team, Daktronics All-America honorable mention, NSCAA All-West Region First Team, and was named the CCAA Most Valuable Defensive Player his senior year. At the end of his junior year, Cohen led the entire NCAA Division II in individual goals-against average (0.397) and save percentage (.898).
 
Catch Josh Cohen and Maccabi Haifa F.C. back in action on Wednesday, Sept. 14 vs. PSG (1-0) at 12:00 pm PST.

Read more about Josh Cohen and Maccabi Haifa F.C. here: Josh Cohen went from USL to become Israel's top player. He'll now face Juventus, PSG in Champions League by Jeff Carlisle at ESPN