Men's College Soccer
Rider Adds 3 More Recruits
LAWRENCEVILLE--Rider University head soccer coach Russ Fager has announced the addition of three players to his 2009 roster, bringing the total number of incoming recruits to nine. “We feel this is one of the strongest recruiting classes in quite a long time,” said Fager, who has compiled 246 wins at Rider.
Craig Hanton of Barrie, Canada, Brandon Sebastian of Monroe Township and Jason Giordano of Massapequa Park, NY have signed national letters of intent to further their education and soccer careers at Rider.
Hanton is a 6'4”, 170 pound midfielder at St. Peter's Catholic Secondary School, where he also played basketball, volleyball and ran the 400m on the track team. In soccer, he played against five national teams and won gold in the Atri Cup in Italy.
“Craig is a strong player with good size,” said Fager. “He should come into the program and compete for a starting position in the midfield. He has good range, good vision and excellent passing skills. He likes to go forward and should be very dangerous on set pieces.”
Sebastian is a senior at Monroe Township High School, where he earned Second Team All-State and First Team All-Area. He played for the U17 Region 1 Premier League Champion and the State Cup Champion last year.
“Brandon brings with him a tremendous amount of experience with some quality teams,” Fager said. “He has been a member of the NJ ODP team for three years and has played with the Ironbound and PDA club teams. He is a very strong defender who reads the game well and should push for a starting position early in his collegiate career.”
Giordano is a senior goalkeeper at Massapequa High School, where he earned All-County honors as a senior and All-Conference honors as a junior. He was the County Championship Game MVP as a sophomore.
“Jason is a very solid keeper with good athleticism and good instincts,” Fager said. “He is very quick in his decision making and has really grown over the past two years. He is able to command his box and is getting some tremendous experience playing with the BW Gottchee Academy team this year. He is training with some of the best players in the region and should be able to come in as a freshman and push for some time in goal.”
These three join Sam Kotowski of Princeton, Ryan Fitzgerald of Yardville, Matt Perrella of North Brunswick, Dan Friga of Clifton, Steve Suntzenich of Massapequa and Fardad Sabzevari of Roslyn, NY as Rider rookies in the fall.
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