This should have been Yannick Reyering's fourth season on the Virginia men's soccer team, but because of his participation with German club VfL Osnabrueck the NCAA took away one year of eligibility. Instead, he joined the Virginia football team, for which he should debut as its placekicker on Saturday against USC at sold-out Scott Stadium.

Reyering scored 39 goals in three seasons for the Cavs, but a knee injury cut short his senior season and effectively ended his chances of making FC Dallas, which took him in the MLS Supplemental Draft.

Virginia men's soccer coach George Gelnovatch recommended him to Virginia football coach Al Groh, who selected Reyering over redshirt freshman Chris Hinkebein and true freshman Robert Randolph for the starting job.

"It doesn't surprise me," Gelnovatch told the Richmond Times-Dispatch. "I've never coached or kicked field goals, but I imagine some of it ties in to what he's pretty good at. He took our penalty goals. That's a high-pressure situation, with everybody watching, you against the goalkeeper, a lot at stake. He's used to that kind of pressure. He also technically strikes a ball as good as anybody I've ever seen. On top of that, he's got great leverage. He's 6-5. The other part is, he's a mentally tough kid. He likes that pressure."

Reyering, 24, has two years of football eligibility.