HIGH POINT, N.C. – High Point University Men's Soccer welcomes the 19th-ranked recruiting class in the nation. This makes five straight top-25 nationally ranked recruiting classes under Head Coach
Zach Haines.
Haines on recruiting class: "We feel great about this class. My staff put in an incredible amount of work to make it happen. We knew for a while that this would be the most significant ingoing/outgoing roster change in my time at HPU. It was the result of many guys wanting to stay with the program for their fifth and even sixth years in the case of Tony (Pineda) and Alex (Abril) for 2023. Our staff also decided to slightly increase our roster size from years prior due to the new substitution rules, and the midweek game schedule. In order to integrate this number of guys into the program as effectively as possible, we brought in six in January, and twelve in August so that the transition was not too much all at once. We are extremely excited about the future of the program as we were able to address positional needs, as well as balance each class freshman through senior."
Freshmen
#0 Peter Morano: 6-foot Goalkeeper
Hometown: Chapel Hill, N.C.
Club: North Carolina FC Academy (ECNL)
#7 Joe Ryder: 6-foot Forward/Midfielder
Hometown: Hartlepool, England
Club: Sunderland AFC U23 (Premier League II)
#11 Francis DeFrancesco: 6-foot-1 Forward
Hometown: Wayne, N.J.
Club: Cedar Stars Academy – Bergen (MLS NEXT)
#14 Chris Niblock: 5-foot-9 Forward/Midfielder
Hometown: McLean, Va.
Club: Bethesda SC (MLS NEXT
)
#17 Angelo Paparoupas: 5-foot-9 Defender
Hometown: Winston-Salem, N.C.
Club: NC Fusion (ECNL)
#27 Aiden Bazzell: 6-foot-2 Defender
Hometown: Prosper, Texas.
Club: FC Dallas (MLS NEXT)
#29 Koven Johnson: 5-foot-8 Midfielder
Hometown: Pittsburgh, Penn.
Club: Barca Academy AZ (MLS NEXT)
#30 Josh Moore: 6-foot-3 Defender/Midfielder
Hometown: Charlotte, N.C.
Club: Charlotte Independence Pro Academy (ECNL)
#31 Parker Sarvis: 6-foot Forward/Midfielder
Hometown: Huntersville, N.C.
Club: Charlotte Independence Pro Academy (ECNL)
#32 Josh Nwokeji: 5-foot-8 Forward/Midfielder
Hometown: Jonesboro, Ark.
Club: Lobos Rush (ECNL)
Transfers
#3 Josh Gomina, 5-foot-9 Defender
Hometown: Sampa, Ghana.
Previous School: University of South Florida
#5 Lukas Kamrath: 6-foot-4 Defender
Hometown: Tampa, Fla.
Previous School: University of Notre Dame
#6 Ross Johnstone: 6-foot-1 Midfielder
Hometown: Kent, England.
Previous School: University of San Diego
#15 Roman Holt: 6-foot-3 Defender
Hometown: Tampa, Fla.
Previous School: San Diego State University
#18 Alfred Baafi: 5-foot-8 Forward/Midfielder
Hometown: Techiman, Ghana.
Previous School: University of Kentucky
#19 Celestin Blondel: 5-foot-8 Forward/Midfielder
Hometown: Volckerinckhove, France
Previous School: Coker College
#24 Mohammed Seidu: 6-foot Defender
Hometown: Accra, Ghana
Previous School: Marshall University
#26 Fynn Geigle: 6-foot-1 Defender
Hometown: Heidelberg, Germany
Previous School: University of West Florida
The Panthers finished the 2023 season as Big South Tournament Champions for the second year in a row and a third time in program history as well as Big South Regular Season Champions. Haines, the reigning back-to-back Big South Coach of the Year, led High Point to a 10-4-5 overall record and a 6-0-1 record in the conference. Clinching their fourth trip to the NCAA Tournament in six years, HPU drew UNC Charlotte in the first round.
HPU had 10 student-athletes named to All-Conference Team as
Jefferson Amaya was tabbed with Big South Offensive Player of the Year and
Finn McRobb took home Defensive Player of the Year. The Panthers had three players from the 2023 team sign 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 Aug. 14 against Wofford at 5:00 p.m. for one of two home exhibition matches before the regular season kicks off at NC State University on Aug. 22 at 7:00 p.m.
