The San Jose Earthquakes announced today that they have signed midfielder Joey Gjertsen. Per league and team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.
"We are happy to add a very good quality attacking wide player like Joey to our team," said General Manager John Doyle. "He strikes the ball very well with both feet and will bring a lot to our team this year and in the future."
The Tacoma, Wash. native has played his professional career in the USL First Division with the Montreal Impact and Vancouver Whitecaps. He was a part of two championship teams, in 2006 with Vancouver and 2009 with Montreal. He has won multiple awards with both clubs, including the Montreal Impact's Unsung Hero award in 2008 and the league's Most Valuable Player award in 2006. He earned his first All-Star selection in the same season, and was named Vancouver's rookie of the year in 2005.
Gjertsen most recently played with the Montreal Impact from the middle of 2007 through the 2009 campaign. He helped the team to the USL championship in 2009, after reaching the quarterfinals in 2007 and the semi-finals in 2008. The Impact also won the Voyageurs Cup in 2007 and 2008. He appeared in 29 games for the USL champion Impact in 2009, scoring three goals. In 2008, his first full season with the club, Gjertsen led the team with five assists and one goal, appearing in 30 games. He also appeared in 10 CONCACAF Champions League games, where he scored a pair of goals. Gjertsen came over in a midseason trade from Vancouver and appeared in 10 games for Montreal, in which he had five assists.
The 5'9" midfielder began his professional career with the Vancouver Whitecaps. In 2007 before his trade to Montreal, Gjertsen scored three goals and notched one assist in 19 games played. He was coming off of his breakout season in 2006, where he took home the USL First Division Most Valuable Player honors and earned an All-Star nod after leading his club with 12 goals and seven assists in 28 games. The Whitecaps took home the USL championship in 2006, thanks in part to Gjertsen's tremendous season. In 2005, he was named Whitecaps' rookie of the year after scoring three goals and tallying three assists in 27 matches.
Gjertsen played his last two years of college soccer at Evergreen State in Washington. In 2003, he earned All-Region Team recognition and was named Region I Player of the year He also was selected as Conference Player of the Year with 23 goals He began his college career at Tacoma Community College where he scored 31 goals and notched a school record 14 assists in his freshman campaign. Gjertsen then transferred to Yavapai College where he won a NJCAA national championship as a sophomore.
Transaction: San Jose Earthquakes (MLS) - Earthquakes sign M Joey Gjertsen.
Joey Gjertsen
Position: Midfielder
Height: 5-9
Weight: 165
Born: June 13, 1982 in Tacoma, Wash.
Hometown: Tacoma, Wash.
Last Club: Montreal Impact (USL)
College: Evergreen State College
Citizenship: USA
How Acquired: Signed by San Jose Earthquakes on Feb. 10, 2010.
