SDSU men's soccer team announces recruits
San Diego State men’s soccer coach Lev Kirshner proudly announced the Aztecs’ nine-player recruiting class set to join the team this fall, which includes multiple national team players from three different countries, a prep All-American, two top-50 recruits and three college transfers.
“This is a very exciting class [could be one of our best] that will most certainly close the gap on our Pac-12 competition. This group not only brings in highly talented and sought after players, but a maturity and experience that our team desperately lacked last year.”
San Diego State’s seven home victories in 2014 were tied for the program’s most wins at SDSU Sports Deck since 2006. In addition, the Aztecs cracked the top 25 and improved to 18-5-2 in non-conference home matches since the beginning of the 2010 season, while having an overall non-conference record of 29-12-4 during the same time span.
SDSU finished the 2014 campaign with three victories over top-20 opponents, played five matches against teams ranked in the top-10 of the NSCAA Coaches Poll, and 13 total contests against teams who were ranked at one point of the season.
The Pac-12 was once again the No. 1 RPI conference in Division I in 2014, while compiling the top winning percentage, the best road winning percentage and the best strength of schedule in the country based on opponents’ winning percentage.
“We continue to have success outside our conference, but it is time for our return to prominence inside the league. This is the only way we can get back to the NCAA tournament. I am confident this 2015 squad will possess the necessary qualities to accomplish these challenging tasks.”
Below is a look at each signee:
Luke Ackermann
Hometown: Costa Mesa, Calif.
High School: Calvary Chapel
Club: West Coast FC
College: Azusa Pacific
· A 2014 NSCAA All-West second-team selection
· Named first-team all-PacWest in 2014
· Recorded a team-high 14 points and tied for the team lead with six goals last season at APU
· Has scored 11 goals with three assists in the last two seasons
Hometown: Auckland, New Zealand
High School: Auckland Grammar School
Club: New Zealand Ole Academy
· U-20 New Zealand National Team Pool
· U-17 New Zealand National Team Pool
Angelo Basso
Hometown: Temecula, Calif.
High School: Chaparral
Club: TVSA Hawks
· A four-year varsity letter winner
· A two-time all-Southwestern League selection
· Represented Cal South at the Futsal National Championships
Mac Clarke
Hometown: Puyallup, Wash.
High School: Emerald Ridge
Club: Seattle Sounders USSDA
· Team captain of the U-18 Seattle Sounders Academy
Dallin Cutler
Hometown: San Diego, Calif.
High School: Rancho Bernardo
Club: La Jolla Nomads USSDA
· ESPN Rise Top 50 recruit
· Top Drawer Soccer Top 100 recruit
· Selected to the Adidas ESP All-Star Team
Pablo Pelaez
Hometown: San Diego, Calif.
High School: Mt. Everest Academy
Club: San Diego Surf USSDA
· U-18 United States National Team member
· U-17 United States National Team member
· U-16 United States National Team member
· 2014 NSCAA All-American
· Top Drawer Soccer top-30 recruit
· College Soccer News top-30 recruit
Simon Said
Hometown: Stockholm, Sweden
High School: Ostra Reals Gymna
Last College: Rider
· U-16 Swedish National Team Pool
· World finalist for the NIKE Academy
Edin Sinanovic
Hometown: Norrkoping, Sweden
High School: John Bauer
Club: IFK Norrkoping
· Ranked as the third-best player in Norrkoping, Sweden, ages 15-20.
Winston Sorhaitz
Hometown: Lindon, Utah
High School: Pleasant Grove
Club: Sparta United
Last College: BYU
· Top scorer for the 2014 BYU PDL Team
· Two-time PDL Team of the Week selection
· A two-time, first-team all-State selection in Utah
· Scored 42 career goals at Pleasant Grove High School
· Three-time state champion with club team Sparta United
Max Watkin
Hometown: Malibu, Calif.
High School: Malibu
Club: Santa Monica United
· A first-team all-Tri Valley League selection
· Member of the L.A. Galaxy U-16 Team
· Member of the L.A. Galaxy U-18 Team
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