A dozen Crew Juniors and Crew Soccer Academy products committed to Division I collegiate soccer programs on National Signing Day Wednesday (Feb. 1), highlighted by 2010 NSCAA/People to People Boys Player of the Year Andrew Souders, who signed with national-power Akron.
A recent mainstay on the U.S. Under-17 National Team who is ranked sixth in the country on TopDrawerSoccer.com’s 2012 players to watch list, Souders will join five fellow CSA products at Akron, including Chad Barson and Wil Trapp. Ray Olivarria and Zachary Mason have committed to The Ohio State University, while high school All-Americans Cheick Diawara and Brett Elder, the Ohio Division III Player of the Year, will play at Wright State.
The 12 standouts join dozens of other Crew youth products in the collegiate ranks and follow the same path as the Crew’s Homegrown Players, Aaron Horton (Louisville), Matt Lampson (Northern Illinois/OSU) and Ben Speas (Akron/North Carolina), all of whom enjoyed success at the collegiate level.
The complete list of commitments follows:
Cheick Diawara - Wright State
Brett Elder - Wright State
Tom Granot - Fordham
Connor Klekota - Notre Dame
Zachary Leedom - West Virginia
Zachary Mason - Ohio State
Ryan McLaughlin - College of Charleston
Rhodes Moore - Xavier
Ray Olivarria - Ohio State
Andrew Souders - Akron
Mike Thomas - Bowling Green
David Witkoff - Georgetown
