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Panthers welcome the best-ranked youth squad for the fifth time in a row

Panthers welcome the best-ranked youth squad for the fifth time in a row

Posted on by Bronte

HIGH POINT, NC – The High Point University men’s soccer team welcomes the nation’s 19th recruiting class, making five consecutive recruiting classes ranked in the nation’s top 25 under head coach Zach Haines.

Haines on the recruiting class: “We have a great feeling about this class. My staff put in an incredible amount of work to make this happen. We knew for some time that this would be the most significant roster change during my time at HPU. This was the result of many guys wanting to stay in the program for their fifth and even sixth year, in the case of Tony (Pineda) and Alex (Abril) for 2023. Our staff also decided to slightly increase our roster size compared to previous years due to the new substitution rules and midweek schedule. In order to integrate this number of guys into the program as effectively as possible, we brought in six in January and 12 in August so the transition wasn’t too much at once. We are very excited about the future of the program as we were able to fill position needs and balance each class from freshman to senior.”




First semester



#0 Peter Morano: 1.80 m tall goalkeeper
Hometown: Chapel Hill, NC
Club: North Carolina FC Academy (ECNL)



#7 Joe Ryder: 1.83 m tall striker/midfielder
Hometown: Hartlepool, England
Club: Sunderland AFC U23 (Premier League II)



#11 Francis DeFrancesco: 1.85 m tall striker
Hometown: Wayne, NJ
Club: Cedar Stars Academy – Bergen (MLS NEXT)



#14 Chris Niblock: 1.75 m tall striker/midfielder
Hometown: McLean, Va.
Club: Bethesda SC (MLS NEXT)



#17 Angelo Paparoupas: 1.75 m tall defender
Hometown: Winston-Salem, NC
Club: NC Fusion (ECNL)



#27 Aiden Bazzell: 1.88 m tall defender
Hometown: Prosper, Texas.
Club: FC Dallas (MLS NEXT)



#29 Coven Johnson: 1.73 m tall midfielder
Hometown: Pittsburgh, Penn.
Club: Barca Academy AZ (MLS NEXT)



#30 Josh Moore: 1.90 m tall defender/midfielder
Hometown: Charlotte, NC
Club: Charlotte Independence Pro Academy (ECNL)



#31 Parker Sarvis: 1.83 m tall striker/midfielder
Hometown: Huntersville, NC
Club: Charlotte Independence Pro Academy (ECNL)



#32 Josh Nwokeji: 1.73 m tall striker/midfielder
Hometown: Jonesboro, Arkansas.
Club: Lobos Rush (ECNL)



Transfers



#3 Josh Gomina1.75 m tall defender
Hometown: Sampa, Ghana.
Previous school: University of South Florida



#5 Lukas Kamrath: 1.93 m tall defender
Hometown: Tampa, Florida.
Previous school: University of Notre Dame



#6 Ross Johnstone: 1.85 m tall midfielder
Hometown: Kent, England.
Previous school: University of San Diego



#15 Roman Holt: 1.90 m tall defender
Hometown: Tampa, Florida.
Previous school: San Diego State University



#18 Alfred Baafi: 1.73 m tall striker/midfielder
Hometown: Techiman, Ghana.
Previous school: University of Kentucky



#19 Celestin Blondel: 1.73 m tall striker/midfielder
Hometown: Volckerinckhove, France
Previous school: Coker College



#24 Mohammed Seidu: 6-foot defender
Hometown: Accra, Ghana
Previous school: Marshall University



#26 Fynn Geigle: 1.85 m tall defender
Hometown: Heidelberg, Germany
Previous school: University of West Florida


The Panthers finished the 2023 season as Big South Tournament Champions, as well as Big South Regular Season Champions, for the second consecutive year and third time in program history. Haines, the reigning Big South Coach of the Year, led High Point to a 10-4-5 overall record and a 6-0-1 record in conference play. HPU secured its fourth NCAA Tournament berth in six years, facing UNC Charlotte in the first round.

HPU had 10 student athletes named to the All-Conference Team as Jefferson Amaya was named Big South Offensive Player of the Year and Finn McRobb was named Defensive Player of the Year. Three Panthers players from the 2023 team signed professional contracts (Seth Antwi – STL City SC, Finn McRobb – Minnesota United, Tony Pineda – Richmond Kickers).


High Point returns to Vert Stadium for the 2024 season on August 14 at 5:00 p.m. against Wofford for one of two home games before the regular season begins on August 22 at 7:00 p.m. at NC State University.