University of North Carolina Athletics
Men's Soccer Inks Nine for 2002 Season
June 4, 2002 | Men's Soccer
June 4, 2002
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Nine student-athletes have signed national letters of intent to play men's soccer at the University of North Carolina in the fall of 2002, head coach Elmar Bolowich announced on Tuesday. The signing class includes five prep players from North Carolina, two from out of state and two transfers from other universities.
The nine players who will join the defending national champion Tar Heels this fall for the 2002 season include: Ty Allison, Pablo Aycinena, Peter Gajdos, Chris Hartsfield, Jonathan Lange, Dixon Soffe, Aubrey Whitfield, Ty Wilcox and Ford Williams.
"Our 2002 recruiting class again features top-level student-athletes from North Carolina youth soccer clubs, balanced by two out-of state athletes and two transfer students," says Bolowich. "I am excited about this class because of the character and enthusiasm each recruit will bring into our squad so UNC can continue to be a top program in the nation."
Allison is a defender who played five years with the N.C. Olympic Development Program (ODP) and was the top player in the Greensboro, N.C., area last fall. Aycinena is a midfielder from Amherst, Ohio, who helped lead his club team, Cleveland United, to six consecutive state titles from 1994-99. Gajdos, a native of Slovakia, is a transfer from Cumberland College of the NAIA and a defender who will enter the 2002 season with junior eligibility.
Hartsfield is a local product from Durham's Jordan High School. Lange is a forward from Flower Mound, Texas, who led his Dallas Texans Red '85 club team to a third-place national finish in 2001. Soffe is a native of Fayetteville, N.C., who plays in the midfield with the N.C. ODP and the N.C. U-23 Summer ODP team.
Whitfield is a defender from Hope Mills, N.C., who was the president of South View High School's chapter of the National Honor Society and a semifinalist for a Morehead Scholarship, the most prestigious merit scholarship awarded at UNC. Wilcox is a transfer who played last season at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, where he started three games in goal in 2001. Wilcox enters Carolina with sophmore eligibility. Williams is a goalie from Raleigh who is a member of the U.S. U-20 National Team and a Parade All-America.
The Tar Heels return seven starters and 13 lettermen from last fall's NCAA championship team. They open defense of their national title on August 30, when they host Akron in the Nike Carolina Classic in Chapel Hill.
