June 20, 2006

CLEVELAND - The Cleveland State University Men's Soccer team has added 12 incoming freshmen to their 2006 roster, Head Coach Ali Kazemaini announced today.

Among them are local standout players, such as midfielder Marco DiFranco (Chesterland, Notre Dame Cathedral Latin), midfielder Mitch Boyer (Parma, Normandy), striker George Kephart (Parma, Normandy), midfielder Bryan Henson (Ashland), midfielder Mike Barton (Twinsburg, Walsh Jesuit), goalkeeper Dan Duric (Mentor), defender Anthony Baraldi (Canton, Massillon Jackson), midfielder Ross Ashley (Ashland), and midfielder Josh Williams (Copley).

In addition to the Northeast Ohio players, the Vikings brought in a crop of talent from Erie, Pennsylvania. Among them are midfielder Pete Wagner (Erie, Pa, Cathedral Prep), striker Andrew Gutting (Erie, Pa, McDowell), and defender Eric Tattersall (Erie, Pa, Cathedral Prep).

"This is arguably one of the best local recruiting classes Cleveland State has seen in a while." Kazemaini also stated that this is proof of his vision to help highlight local soccer talent. "We are all very excited for the upcoming season, and to see what we need to do next to lift our program to where we all want it to be. This nucleus should be exciting to watch, and as long as we play attractive soccer, we will attract the attention of some of the elite soccer programs nationally. It is our goal by 2008 to schedule top 25 teams to come to play in our city."