Duke
The Blue Devils finished 5th in ACC play last year and fell to UNC Greensboro in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. They will be looking for better things in 2009. They must replace star Mike Grella who signed with Leeds United in England last month. Otherwise it was a fairly young squad fielded by Duke last year which should bode well for the future. The school has not released any information on their 2009 recruiting class as of this date. It is rumoured that highly regarded prospects Ryan Finley of PDA and Andrew Wenger from PA Classics will be joining the Duke squad in the fall though.
Maryland
Recruiting should be easy after a national title and Maryland made it look so. Maryland lost five seniors to the MLS Superdraft with all five being drafted in the top 23 picks so there is much to replace in the squad. US Under 18 London Woodberry and DC United Youth teammates Paul Torres and Ethan White head the Maryland class. Maryland coach Sasho Cirovski stated "Collectively this group brings a great deal of talent, athleticism, and a competitive fiber that I know our fans will appreciate. Individually, they bring a wealth of diverse skills and the infusion of this incoming group along with our strong and experienced returning group of players makes me very confident that we will be ready for the challenge of maintaining our competitive excellence. I can't wait to get them all on campus!"
Jordan Cyrus from Norfolk, Va. Virignia Rush
Taylor Kemp Highlands Ranch, CO Real Colorado
Jake Pace from Clarksville, Md. SAC United Premier
John Stertzer from Oakton, Va. Flint Hill Potomac U18 Academy
Paul Torres from Bethesda, Md. DC United U18
Ethan White from Bethesda, Md. DC United U18
London Woodberry from McKinney, Texas Andromeda
North Carolina
UNC is coming off a fabulously successful late year run that culminated in a thrilling upset of top ranked Wake Forest in the College Cup and a tough 1-0 loss in the national championship. They must replace leading scorer Brian Shriver that was taken by FC Dallas in the 2nd round of the MLS Superdraft. Also gone are five other seniors, but the bulk of the squad returns including freshman US Under 20 Billy Schuler to bolster the attack. The Tarheels are bringing in seven for the 2009 season. Two seasoned transfers that should make an immediate impact join the program in Stephen McCarthy from Santa Clara and Michael Farfan from Cal State Fullerton. Both are already on campus and training with the team. Five freshman will join the squad as well, led by two time South carolina player of the year Enzo Martinez.
Michael Farfan transfer from Cal State Fullerton
Scott Goodwin GK from Raleigh, NC and CASL
Enzo Martinez from Rock Hill, SC and Northwestern Discoveries
Stephen McCarthy transfer from Santa Clara
Max Mosch from Karlsruhe, Germany
Martin Murphy from Cary, NC and CASL
Josh Rice from Midlothian, VA and Richmond Strikers
Alex Walters from Bradenton, FL and IMG
North Carolina State
NC State looks to build upon an improved squad from last year. They finished the season winning 6 of their last 8 and confidence is returning to the program. The Wolfpack fielded the youngest team in the ACC last season and almost everyone returns for 2009. NC State has not released any recruiting information for the upcoming class. Expect it to be a smaller sized class with most of the roster already coming back next year. Two players rumoured, but unconfirmed to be landing on campus next fall are David Brown of Triangle FC and Andrew Carey from North Meck.
Virginia
UVa had a great run in the middle of the season that had many expecting a long run in the NCAAs. A win over Wake Forest in the ACC Tourney only fueled the optimism. Unfortunately, they didnt get much respect from the seeding committee and drew a good UConn team in the first round where they fell 2-0 to UConn. Virginia announced the addition of six recruits for the 2009 campaign. The class is led by US Under 18 players Will Bates and Shane Cooke. Coach George Gelnovatch says “This class is well-balanced from top to bottom in terms of attacking players, defensive players and a goalkeeper. Technically and athletically, there is a lot of versatility in this group.”
Will Bates from Chester, Va. and Richmond Strikers
Shane Cooke from Warrenton, Va and DC United Youth
Marcus Douglas from Washington, DC and DC United Youth
Sean Murnane from Centreville, Va and DC United Youth
Ahkeel Rodney from Elmont, N.Y. and B/W Gottschee
Will Whorton from Atlanta, Ga and Norcross Fury
Virginia Tech
The Hokies had a nightmare of a 2008 ACC season failing to win a match in conference play. Head Coach Oliver Weiss will look to the 2009 class to help turn things around. A large class of ten players were announced. “We are very pleased to sign these eight student-athletes to National Letters of Intent,” said head coach Oliver Weiss. “This class will help us get back on the right track in 2009. Many of these players have the ability to play multiple positions. This flexibility will give us more strength and depth during the fall season. We welcome these new Hokies to our program.”
Robert Alberti from Hampton, Va and Virginia Legacy Wizards
Greg Cochrane from Holland, Pa. and FC Delco
Connor Coons from Chattahoochee and Atlanta Fire
Patrick Huang from Huntsville, Ala and Birmingham United
Colin McNew from Roswell, Ga and Atlanta Fire
Alistair Moore from Blacksburg, Va. and SYC Royals
William Reynolds from Martinsville, Va
Pat Ryan from East Greenbush, NY and Blackwatch Dundee
Joe Vidmar from Owings Mills, Md. and Baltimore Bays U18
Greg Weimer from Pittsburgh, Pa. and Penn Forest
Wake Forest
Wake was the most dominant team in all of college soccer last year and were the odds on favorite to take the NCAA title. The offense was ridiculous led by Marcus Tracey, Cody Arnoux and Corben Bone. The team must replace important cogs in Tracey, Sam Cronin and Michael Lahoud. Six Demon Deacons were selected in the MLS Superdraft, but there is plenty of talent on hand to think Wake will be contenders again next year.
Only two recruits have been announced so far for 2009 from a reported class of six. Anthony Arena from Seattle, Washington and Crossfire Premier is one of the new recruits. Arena has spent time with the US U18 and U20 National Teams. The other annouced recruit is local product Ben Newman. Ben grew up around the program and was selected as the North Carolina High School Player of the Year.