ROCK HILL, SC—Winthrop men's head soccer coach Rich Posipanko announced the 2012 recruiting class Monday afternoon that consists of 13 players.

Posipanko and his staff feel the 13 newcomers will lift the level of play for the Eagles, who have finished under .500 the past two seasons.

“We feel good about this recruiting class,” said Posipanko, who will be coaching his 24^th season with the Eagles when the season starts in August. “It ended up being much larger than expected, but after two subpar seasons for us we needed to get better at every position and have a more professional attitude. We feel with the numbers and quality we brought in, we will have competition and depth at most positions. Over the past few years we have lost players that have gone on to play professionally and for several reasons we were not able to replace their abilities. We are hopeful this class will be able to address our needs immediately. However, we do understand it is going to take some time to get everyone on the same page and playing together. Our success this season will obviously depend on how long it takes us to accomplish this.”

The class includes freshmen Patrick Barnes, Kyle Kennedy, Tobi Abel, Magnus Thorsson, Walker Johnson, Jordi Lluch, C.J. Miller, Max Davidson and Nate Torbett. Lluch is a transfer, but has four years of eligibility while Torbett will join the Eagles in the spring of 2013. The other transfers are juniors Adrianio Negri, Achille Obogou, and Hunter Riddle and sophomore Adam Wolf.

The class is well balanced position wise as three of them are forwards while there are also four midfielders and four defenders. The Eagles hope to add more to the attack while solidifying the back four and adding depth.

Winthrop finished the 2011 season with a 7-12 record overall and 4-5 league mark and was near the bottom of the Big South in goals per game and goals against per game.

With a mix of 13 newcomers and 17 returning players, the Eagles will look to make their way back as one of the elite teams in the Big South.

“Our success this season will obviously depend on how long it takes us to accomplish this,” added Posipanko. “We have been in the Championship Game four out of the past seven years, and our goals and expectations remain the same this year and each year, no matter who is on the field.  We are hopeful this class will help us find our way back to the NCAA College Cup.”

Here is a look at the 2012 Recruiting Class:

Patrick Barnes, F/MF
(5-8, 155--Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada)
 
Patrick attended Shattuck St. Mary's. Barnes has a lot of upside from an attacking standpoint. He has been competing with Shattuck St. Mary's a US Soccer Development Academy squad. With Patrick we are looking for creativity in the final third and being able to help with goal production. Patrick comes highly recommend by former UNC Asheville coach Steve Cornish and Tim Carter.
 
Kyle Kennedy, D
(6-2, 185--Dublin, Ireland)
 
Kyle will be joining us with a very seasoned and educated background from playing in the youth set up in the Irish League. He is a commanding presence and we hope to see patrolling the back four from day one. Technically very clean and has a competitive drive that is just contagious. He will also be an asset to solving some issues from the past season in regards to attacking and defending set pieces. Kyle comes highly recommended from former Eagle standout and captain Gareth Hayden.
 
Tobi Abel, F
(6-2, 175, Lagos, Nigeria)
When Tobi came for a visit we were immediately impressed by his desire to take on a new challenge of playing college soccer here in the US. He has lots of athletic tools to go along with a very good amount of talent in the final third. He can create and score goals and we look forward to seeing him develop into what we think could be a hidden gem.
 
Magnus Thorsson, MF
(5-9, 155, Reykjavik, Iceland)

Magnus will be joining us as a player with some maturity in the game. Technically he is excellent and his service and ability to change the game thru set-pieces could be invaluable. He has a tremendous engine and looking to see him really stamp his mark in the coming years on our program. Good leadership qualities and his desire to play at the next level will hopefully rub off on everyone around him.
 
Adriano Negri, MF
(6-1, 170, Vancouver, Canada)
 
Adriano will add much needed attacking creativity and goal scoring abilities for our team.  He is very savvy and can create and combine well with others in the attacking end of the game. Our hope for Adriano is to make an impact from day one and help our team mature as we progress thru the season.  He is coming from a solid program in Monroe and has been an able leader for them from his freshman year.  He will have two seasons of eligibility here at Winthrop.
 
 
Achille Obogou, F
(6-5, 195, Barcelona, Spain)
 
Achille will have two years of eligibility remaining as he transfers from university in Spain. He is a true target forward who has a tremendous upside with his power and speed. We are looking for him to make an immediate impact on the goal scoring front. For a big man he has excellent feet and we think this is a player that has the ability to move onto the professional ranks in time.
 
Walker Johnson, MF/D
(6-3, 165, Ft. Mill, SC)
 
Walker is a local product from a very good high school program run by Coach Lloyd Chalker and has played for Dr. Lou Pantuosco with Palmetto United. He is a true competitor and not afraid to mix things up a bit at times. Walker is a blue collar player in every sense of the word and will bring some bite to the side. Technically he can play out of the back or step into a holding role in midfield to be a playmaker.  Walker was a 2012 SC All-State selection
 
 
Jordi Lluch , D
(6-1, 180, Barcelona, Spain)
 
Jordi has been groomed in a very competitive side in Barcelona.  Lluch technically is very good at helping to build the attack out of the back and also can find himself in attacking positions at times. He is a complete player. He is a humble young man that wants to really drive us back to the top of the Big South Conference by setting the example and leading with his experience. We are anxious to see him playing games in the fall.
 
CJ Miller, D
(5-7, 150, Raleigh, NC)
 
CJ is a dynamic attacking left back. He has been groomed in one of the top clubs in the country at CASL.  He has many good qualities as a player and we are looking forward to getting him into the side and further developing him on both sides of the ball. He is a confident young man that will push to challenge for a starting job from the outset.
 
Max Davidson, MF
(5-8, 150, Roanoke, VA)
 
Max was brought to our attention by his high school coach, Chris Dowdy. After a chat with an old friend Shelley “the Cat” Blumenthal this was a player we were convinced needed to be an Eagle. He could well be the hidden gem of all the recruits out of Virginia. Max has all the intangibles and is intrinsically motivated to be the best each day. I think all the Eagle fans are going to take to his commitment and desire for the next four years. He is technically sound and tactically very engaging.
 
Adam Wolf, D
(5-10, 170, Columbia, SC)
 
Adam joined us this past spring of 2012 after transferring from Lander University.  He has been a pleasant surprise and we are encouraged by his work rate and ability to get up and down the flank as an outside back. He is in the mold of some of our past right backs who not only have done well on the field but excelled in the classroom and in the community. He started every game as a freshman at Lander, but will need playing time to get back to full strength after taking a year off from playing.
 
Hunter Riddle, MF/D
(5-9, 150, Greenwood, SC)
 
Hunter is transferring in and will be joining us in the fall after spending two years at North Greenville. We are encouraged that he is playing PDL this summer with the Palmetto Bantams.  The experience playing at such a high level will hopefully carry over into the fall. He is a young man that is all about improving and getting better each day.  He will red-shirt this season.
 
Nate Torbett, MF
(5-8, 150, Rock Hill, SC)
 
Nate will be joining the squad in Jan 2013. We are thrilled to pick up another local standout who has decided to stay close to family for his collegiate experience.  He has been with former Eagle Captain, Dom Wren at Northwestern and competed locally with Discoveries Soccer Club.  Nate has tremendous drive, grit, and fight. I am looking forward to him stepping in to classes in January and allowing him to continue to develop as a player in the coming months with the staff at Discoveries.  Nate was a 2012 SC All-State selection