Manuel Cukaj

Position:
Defender
Height:
6-1
Weight:
185
Class:
Redshirt Sophomore
Hometown:
Mannheim, Germany
High School:
J.S. Bach

Honors and Awards
CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team (Spring 2021)
CoSIDA Academic All-District (2019)
Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week (Sept. 2)
BIG EAST All-Academic (2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21)
BIG EAST All-Freshman Team (2017)
BIG EAST Freshman of the Week (Oct. 16, 2017)

2020-21 (RJr): 2G-0A-4 Points ... Started and played in 11 of 13 games ... Played the full 95 minutes against Northern Illinois (Feb. 7) ... Started and played the full 100 minutes against Saint Louis, helping to keep a clean sheet and tallying one shot on goal (Feb. 13) ... Started and played all 105 minutes against Creighton (Feb. 20) ... Started and played four minutes at DePaul before exiting with a shoulder injury (March 6) ... Played the full 90 minutes and scored the game-winning goal off a header in a 2-1 win over Xavier (March 17) ... Played 44 minutes and tallied one shot at Creighton (March 20) ... Scored his second goal in three games against DePaul (March 24) ... Stayed in the whole game in a clean sheet defensive effort in senior day win over Butler (March 27) ... Played nine minutes in the BIG EAST tournament semifinals against Seton Hall (April 15) ... Played the full 110 minutes in the penalty-kick win over No. 4 Loyola Marymount (May 2) ... Played 90 minutes and registered a shot on goal in the 2-1 defeat to No. 2 Indiana in the Round of 16 (May 6).

2019 (RSo.): Finished his second tied for fourth on the team in points (7) and tied for second on the team in goals (3) ... Cukaj played in 15 games in 2019, starting in each one ... Headed in the game-winning goal to defeat UAB in double overtime on opening night of the regular season (Aug. 30) ... Made the Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week for his performance in the first two games, scoring the game-winner on opening night and holding the opposition to one goal in two games ... Earned single game-highs in points (4) and goals (2) in a 6-1 victory over Green Bay (Oct. 8) ... Dished out his first assist of the season on Lukas Sunesson's game-winning goal against DePaul in a 1-0 victory (Nov. 6).

2018 (RFr.): Redshirted due to injury.

2017 (Fr.): Made 10 starts out of 11 match appearances, notching an assist and a goal ... Provided essential backline help as Marquette topped St. John's 1-0 in double OT (Oct. 14) ... Named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week on Oct. 16 after missing five games due to injury ... Started first six games of the season as true freshman before getting an injury ... Scored his first goal of the season in a win over Creighton (Oct. 25) ... Assisted on Grant Owens' goal at DePaul (Nov. 1)

Prior to Marquette: Attended high school at J.S. Bach-Gymnasium Mannheim … Worked his way through the U-18 and U-23 levels of the Bundesliga youth professional leagues, last playing for FC Astoria Walldorf since 2015 … Appeared in 21 matches last season, earning 13 starts and scored one goal.

Personal: Born in Mannheim, Germany … Son of Viktor and Anita Cukaj … Has three siblings, Teresa, Frank and Kora … Plans to study finance and business analytics.