So we’ve discussed a lot this season the players that are leaving early and the players that aren’t matriculating at all and with that, it’s easy to forget or overlook that there’s still lots of talent coming back in college soccer. With the season upon us, thought it would be good to start a list of the top returning players. My list isn’t definitive. Please feel free to add to it and to disagree. That’s the point. It’s long – about 60 players – and while I’m sure I’ve forgotten or overlooked some good players, I’m also sure it’ll be a more accurate read of college soccer than the MAC Hermann watch list! Yeah, a lot of the talent is foreign. But that’s the sign of the times. I think the overall depth of this list shows how much is still in college soccer. It will be interesting to see who has good seasons and who ends up in the pro ranks next year and how much MLS agrees with us. Also, if someone wants to start a similar thread for incoming talent, please do so. Marcelo Acuna, Sr. F, Virginia Tech (via Costa Rica) – 3rd team All-American Mo Adams, So. M Syracuse (via England) Robin Afamefuna, So. D, Virginia (via Germany) Francis Atuahene, Jr. F, Michigan (via Ghana) Will Bagrou, Sr. F, Mercer – 2nd team All-American Jon Bakero, Sr. M, Wake Forest (via Spain) Tristan Blackmon, Sr. D, Pacific – 2nd team All-American Marcelo Borges, Jr. D, Michigan (NYRB) Cory Brown, Sr. D, Xavier (via New Zealand) Alex Bumpus, R-Sr. D, Kentucky Handwalla Bwana, So. M, Washington (Seattle, via Kenya) Jeff Caldwell, Sr. GK, Virginia – US U20 WC team Jose Carrera, R-Sr. M, California Mauro Cichero, Sr. F, Southern Methodist Alex Comsia, Jr. D, North Carolina (Vancouver, via Canada) Tanner Dietrich, So. D, Clemson (Salt Lake) Andrew Epstein, Sr. GK, Stanford (Colorado) – 2nd team All-American Kevin Feucht, Sr. M, UC Santa Barbara (via Germany) Jon Gallagher, Sr. F, Notre Dame (via Ireland) Chase Gasper, R-Jr. D, Maryland Danny Griffin, So. M, Providence Tomas Gudmundsson, Sr. D, Boston College Jeremiah Gutjahr, Jr. M, Indiana (Chicago) Andrew Gutman, Jr. D, Indiana (Chicago) Aaron Herrera, Jr. D, New Mexico (Salt Lake) – US U20 WC team Tomas Hillard-Arce, Sr. D, Stanford: 1st team All-American Nicholas Hinds, So. M/D, Akron (Seattle) Paul Hoffmeister, Jr., Utah Valley (via Germany) – 3rd team All-American Jordan Jones, Sr. F, Oregon State Tim Kubel, Sr. D, Louisville (via Germany) – 2nd team All-American Foster Langsdorf, Sr. F, Stanford (Portland) – 2nd team All-American Lasse Lehmann, So. M, Boston College (via Germany) Grant Lillard, Sr. D, Indiana (Chicago) Cam Lindley, So. MF, North Carolina (Chicago) – national freshman of the year, 2nd team AA Ricky Lopez-Espin, Sr. F, Creighton Ben Lundgaard, Sr. GK, Virginia Tech Dominik Machado, R-Sr. M, Providence (New England) JT Marcikowski, Jr. GK, Georgetown (San Jose) – US U20 WC team Tommy McCabe, So. M, Notre Dame Timmy Mueller, Sr. F, Oregon State Eddie Munjoma, So. D, Southern Methodist (Dallas) Will Mejia, R-So. D, Virginia Tech Benji Michel, So. F, Portland (Orlando) Joshua Morton, Sr. D/M, California (San Jose) Chris Mueller, Sr. F, Wisconsin – 3rd team All-American Sergio Nus, Jr. D, Virginia (via Spain) Thomas Olsen, R-Sr. GK, San Diego – US U20 WC team Wyatt Omsberg, Sr. D, Dartmouth – 3rd team All-American Edward Opoku, Jr. F, Virginia (Ghana) – 2nd team All-American Elliot Panicco, R-So. GK, Charlotte Pablo Pelaez, R-So. M, San Diego State Mauricio Pineda, So. M/D, North Carolina (Chicago) Luke Prpa, So. M, Marquette Jake Rozhansky, Sr. M, Maryland Albert Ruiz, Sr. F, Florida Gulf Coast (via Spain) – led D-1 in goals, points, 1st team AA Kevin Silva, So. GK, UCLA Lucas Stauffer, Sr. D, Creighton Mac Steeves, R-Sr. F, Providence Grant Stoneman, R-Jr. D, Loyola-Chicago – 2nd team All-American Mohamed Thiaw, Sr, F, Louisville Ema Twumasi, So. F, Wake Forest (via Ghana) Gordon Wild, Jr. F, Maryland (via Germany): 1st team All-American Eryk Williamson, Jr. M, Maryland (DC U) – US U20 WC team Adam Wilson, Jr. M, Louisville (via Scotland) Alan Winn, Sr. F, North Carolina Jason Wright, Sr. F, TBA* (via Jamaica) Zach Wright, Sr. F, North Carolina (Kansas City) Len Zeugner, R-Jr. D, Boston College (via Germany) *Wright spent the past 3 seasons at Rutgers but is supposedly transferring. Clemson was rumored as his destination but I’ve seen nothing official.
Ben Lundt, Jr. GK, Akron (Hertha Berlin) http://www.gozips.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=5304 Ezana Kahsay, Jr. F, Akron (Asmeras, Eritrea via Buffalo NY) Now that sounds like a long story! http://www.gozips.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=5301
Frantzdy Pierrot, Sr. F, Coastal Carolina (Haiti) Brian White, Sr. MF, Duke Abdou Mbacke Thiam, So. F, UConn (Senegal) Afonso Pinheiro, Sr. F, Albany (Brazil) Pablo Aguilar, R-Sr. MF, Virginia (Guatemala) Amar Sejdic, Jr. MF, Maryland (Real Salt Lake)
T Clark coming through in the clutch he graduated and joined the Peace Corps in Africa— Travis Clark (@travismclark) July 23, 2017
The America East was the 3rd rated conference in the 2016 RPI - lots of talent worth mentioning: Ivan Abramovic, So, F, UMASS-Lowell (Croatia) Jakov Basic, Jr, M, UMASS-Lowell (Croatia) Dario Jovanovski, So, M, UMASS-Lowell (Croatia) Chris Arling, Jr, F, New Hampshire Andre Morrison, Sr, D, Hartford (Jamaica) Vince Erdei, Sr, F, Stony Brook (Hungary) Serge Gamwanya, Jr, M, Stony Brook (Norway) Carlos Clark, Jr, M, Albany Afonso Pinheiro, Sr, F, Albany (Brazil)
2x defending NCAA champ. Electrical engineering degree from Stanford. Joins the Peace Corps in Africa. God bless him.
Good List My own top 20 from my top preseason 100 this year are 1 Tim Kubel Louisville 2 Cam Lindley North Carolina 3 Tomas Hilliard Arce Stanford 4 Andrew Gutman Indiana 5 Jake Rozhansky Maryland 6 Jon Gallagher Notre Dame 7 Eryk Williamson Maryland 8 Corey Baird Stanford 9 Francis Atuahene Michigan 10 Gordon Wild Maryland 11 Aaron Meyer Utah Valley 12 Timmy Mueller Oregon State 13 Brian White Duke 14 Foster Langsdorf Stanford 16 Mohamed Thiaw Louisville 17 Jason Wright Clemson 18 Albert Ruiz Florida Gulf Coast 19 Amar Sejdic Maryland 20 Grant Lillard Indiana Others to consider that were not mention Nils Bruening, UNC - UNC is stacked from top to bottom Amir Bashti. Stanford Kamal Miller, Syracuse Malcolm Jones, UCLA Danny Musovski, UNLV Biggest issue with NCAA soccer is how little interest there is now at a MLS level. I've been told directly by a number of MLS clubs that they have no interest in players playing in NCAA and even USL clubs I've spoken with recently are more interested in foreign signings or players playing in USSDA.
I would offer from Cal Poly: Sophomore Christian Enriquez, he was Big West Freshman of the Year last year and has been called up to U19 National team 3 times in last year.
For what it’s worth, here’s the players from the PDL’s all league team who are expected to play college soccer this year. Ben Lundgaard, Sr. GK, Virginia Tech (NY Red Bulls U23) http://www.hokiesports.com/msoccer/players/lundgaard_ben.html Mitch Osmond, Jr. D, Calumet College of St. Joseph (via Australia; Thunder Bay Chill) http://www.ccsjathletics.com/roster/13/7/1840.php Sergi Nus, Jr. D, Virginia (via Spain; Fresno Fuego) http://www.virginiasports.com/sports/m-soccer/mtt/sergi_nus_1018723.html Scott Devoss, R-Jr. D, Denver (Colorado Rapids U23) http://www.denverpioneers.com/sports/m-soccer/mtt/scott_devoss_910331.html Moshe Perez, Jr. M, Colorado Mesa (via Israel; FC Tucson) http://www.cmumavericks.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=10471&path=msoc Ricardo Gomez, Sr. M, South Florida (Myrtle Beach Mutiny) http://www.gousfbulls.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=5178 Aaron Molloy, So. M, Penn State (via Ireland; Reading United) http://www.gopsusports.com/sports/m-soccer/mtt/aaron_molloy_1049959.html Brian White, Sr. M/F, Duke (NY Red Bulls U23) http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=209535542 White won MVP and Golden Boot. Osmond was Defender of the year and Lundgaard (obviously) the top GK. Molloy was named Top Young Player and Harry Pearse, an English kid who will be a Sr at D-II LIU Post that played for Jersey Express but didn’t make the All League team, was named Creative Player of the Year after leading the PDL with 10 assists. http://www.uslpdl.com/news_article/show/820419?referrer_id=2242534 Also, the PDL puts out a “top prospects” list. Here is the Top 20. http://www.uslpdl.com/top-prospects 1. White 2. Jon Bakero, Sr. M, Wake Forest (via Spain; Carolina Dynamo) 3. Brad Dunwell, Jr. M, Wake Forest (Michigan Bucks) 4. Francis Atuahene, Jr. F, Michigan (via Ghana; Michigan Bucks) 5. Diego Campos, Sr. F, Clemson (via Costa Rica; SIMA Aguilas) 6. Tate Schmitt, Jr. F, Louisville (FC Tucson) 7. Lundgaard 8. Tanner Dietrich, So. D, Clemson (Nashville SC U23) 9. Tobenna Uzo – No College Eligiblity 10. Julio Moncada, R-Sr. M, UNC Wilmington (via Honduras; Oklahoma City Energy U23) 11. Malick Mbaye, So. M/D, Clemson (via Senegal; SIMA Aguilas) 12. Ken Krolicki, Sr. M, Michigan State (K-W United) 13. Martim Galvao – No College Eligibility 14. Molloy 15. Chris Mueller, Sr. M/F, Wisconsin (Chicago United) 16. Ryan Williams, Jr. M, John Brown (Charlotte Eagles) 17. Nus 18. Eric Dick, R-Sr. GK, Butler (Oklahoma City Energy U23) 19. Benji Michel, So. F. Portland (Portland Timbers U23) 20. Ryosuke Kinoshita, So. F, Marshalltown Community College (via Japan; Boulder U23) (For the enterprising out there, I’d love to find out how a kid from Japan ends up playing junior college soccer in Nowhere, Iowa.)
A rating of the top Goalkeepers in NCAA this season by Bill Reno - http://www.everybodysoccer.com/even.../ncaa-preseason-goalkeeper-rankings-mens-2017