GREENSBORO, NC – The UNC Greensboro men’s soccer team’s incoming recruiting class has been ranked in the Top 40 in the nation by College Soccer News.
The Spartans’ class of 2009 is rated No. 31 among the Top 40 classes in Division I according to the soccer website. Furman was the only other SoCon school included in the Top 40 list, coming in at No. 33.
It is the third consecutive Top 40 recruiting class for UNCG. Last year, the Spartans’ incoming class was rated No. 26 by College Soccer News. The incoming class from two years ago, which included National Player of the Year candidate Randi Patterson, was ranked No. 39.
The class of 2009 includes Winston-Salem, NC native Joseph Burnett, Gastonia, NC product Matt Cunningham, Middletown, NJ native Thomas Campbell, and Reykjavik, Iceland products J?kull I. Elisabetarson and Henning Jonasson.
“Obviously, we are very happy to be included on that list again this year,” said UNCG men’s soccer coach Michael Parker. “We feel good about the five individuals that are joining us this coming season. Certainly, the success that we enjoyed last year and being No. 1 in the nation translated into more success in our recruiting ventures.”
Burnett was a member of the U-18 squad for the Greensboro Soccer Club and attends West Forsyth HS. He has previously played in the “Y” league with the Carolina Dynamo, where he gained national experience when his team won the Tampa Sun Bowl in 2002.
Cunningham played for the Charlotte Soccer Club and Gastonia Forestview HS. He earned all-state honors from the North Carolina Soccer Coaches Association at forward, was an all-area and All-Piedmont selection by the Charlotte Observer and was Region 9 and Big South 3A Player of the Year. He also played for the West squad in the NCCA East-West All-Star game this past week at UNCG Soccer Stadium.
Campbell was a two-time all-area selection at Middletown South HS. He played for the same soccer club that produced Paterson, an All-America and Hermann Award candidate next season. As a junior, Campbell had 21 goals and 20 assists from his forward position for Middletown South.
Elisabetarson and Jonasson are members of the Iceland U-21 national squad and play for the KR Soccer Club in Reykjavik, Iceland. Two years ago, they were teammates with current UNCG forward Egill Atlason. Jonasson played and was a starter in the UEFA U-21 tournament this past fall. Elizabetarson is a defender with KR, while Jonasson is a forward.
UNCG, coming off a 19-3-1 campaign in 2004 in which it won the Southern Conference title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 16, will open the 2005 pre-season with a match at Duke on Sunday, August 21. UNCG opens the regular season at home on September 1 against in-state rival UNC Wilmington, the team that snapped UNCG’s 17-game unbeaten streak and handed the Spartans their first loss of the 2004 season.
College Soccer News
2005 Top 40 Men's Soccer Recruiting Classes
1. Indiana
2. Maryland
3. Duke
4. UCLA
5. North Carolina
6. St. John's
7. SMU
8. Wake Forest
9. Virginia
10. Michigan
11. UC Santa Barbara
12. USF
13. Boston University
14. California
15. Clemson
16. New Mexico
17. Boston College
18. Notre Dame
19. UConn
20. Oregon State
21. Washington
22. UAB
23. Portland
24. Loyola Marymount
25. Stanford
26. Ohio State
27. Saint Louis
28. Virginia Tech
29. American
30. Pennsylvania
31. UNC Greensboro
32. Santa Clara
33. Furman
34. Georgetown
35. Hartwick
36. South Carolina
37. Akron
38. Monmouth
39. San Diego State
40. Kentucky
- UNCG -