ITHACA, N.Y. – Cornell men's soccer player
Daniel Haber, who was named the Ivy League Player of the Year in November, has signed a professional contract with Israeli club team Maccabi Haifa FC and will be forgoing his senior year of eligibility at Cornell.
Haber, who racked up a league-high 18 goals and 43 points in his junior campaign, helped the Big Red to its first outright Ivy League title since 1977 and its first NCAA tournament berth since 1996. Haber was also named a First-Team All-American at season's end and was on the All-Ivy First Team. His 1.06 points per game and 2.53 goals per game led the country.
“Signing with Maccabi Haifa FC is an amazing opportunity for me to start my career,” Haber said. “I have the utmost respect for the Cornell Soccer program and its coaches and will always be a member of the Big Red family."
Haber signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with Maccabi Haifa on Monday after two weeks of tryouts. He is the only player on the Haifa roster from Canada and is also the team's only player from North America.
Maccabi Haifa, which plays in the Israeli Premier League (Israel's top division of soccer) is a 12-time Israeli Premier League champion, last winning the crown in 2010-11. Haifa placed fifth at the end of the 2011-12 season and is currently in third this season through 17 games.
Haber will take a leave of absence from Cornell, meaning he can come back to school within a five-year period to complete his degree without having to go through re-admittance procedures.
"To my coaches I want to say thank you for everything they have done for me since the beginning of the recruiting process,” Haber said. “I feel like they have helped me succeed and grow not only mature as a player but also as a person. I am proud to have been part of this program and will never forget the success we had both on and off the field. My teammates have been amazing during the good and bad times since we arrived at Cornell. The special group of players has become like family and I will miss them very much.”
