University of Akron men’s soccer coach Caleb Porter has done it again.
Porter announced Wednesday that six players have signed national letters of intent to join UA in 2012, giving the Zips their second No. 1 recruiting class during Porter’s tenure.
UA received the No. 1 ranking for this recruiting class from topdrawersoccer.com (TDS). The Zips had the consensus No. 1 recruiting class in 2009, according to TDS, espnrise.com and collegesoccernews.com.
The group includes four of the topdrawersoccer.com’s top 11 recruits in the country.
The six players are: forward Alfred Koroma, defender Andrew Souders, goalkeeper Fernando Piña, midfielder Dillon Serna, forward Omari Morris and midfielder Matt Foldesy.
Five of the six are members of their respective youth national teams.
“My staff and I are extremely excited to welcome six very talented young men into the Akron program,” Porter said. “Each of them bring a wealth of playing experience domestically and internationally and are also first-class individuals off the field.
“Over the past five years, we have been fortunate that many of the top players in the country have chosen Akron and without question, this is one of the finest recruiting classes we have ever assembled. I know their impact will be felt immediately and, with a very strong core group of returning players, we expect to continue competing for national championships in the years to come.”
UA loses seniors Matt Dagilis, Michael Balogun and Luke Holmes and sophomore Darren Mattocks from the 2011 team that advanced to the Round of 16 of the NCAA Tournament after winning the national title in 2010.
Koroma, Souders, Piña and Serna have played for the U.S. Under-17 National Team.
Koroma, who is from Southlake, Texas, is ranked No. 3 individually by TDS.
Souders is a senior at Amherst Steele High School. He is ranked No. 6 by TDS and is the team captain of the U-17 team.
Piña, who is from Houston, is ranked No. 10 by TDS and considered the top goalkeeper recruit in the nation.
Serna, a Brighton, Colo., native, is ranked No. 11 by TDS.
Morris is a Toronto native and a member of the Canadian U-17 National Team.
Foldesy guided Cleveland St. Ignatius High School to Division I state titles in 2010 and 2011 and a national title in 2010. He was selected the Ohio High School Boys Division I Player of the Year as a senior.
Michael Beaven can be reached at 330-996-3829 or mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com. Also follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MBeavenABJ. Follow ABJ sports on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/sports.abj.
