Valparaiso University men’s soccer head coach, Mike Avery, and his staff, announced on Wednesday a very promising recruiting class set to join the Crusaders in 2015. Coach Avery welcomes six new additions to his current squad. The 2015 class is representative of Valparaiso’s approach in Coach Avery’s tenure in that it features two of the top local products from Northwest Indiana, two talented additions from the Chicago area and two players with international experience. Valparaiso will announce a few additional signings in the next two weeks.

Billy Biehl (Chesteron, Ind.), Bradley Brack (Crown Point, Ind.), Hunter Finnegan (West Chicago, Ill.), Michael Marchionna (Naperville, Ill.), Johnny McArtor (Manila, Philippines) and Okama Thompson (Portmore, Jamaica) will all join Valpo in August for the 2015 season.

“We have had a really strong recruiting haul this year, kicked off early with the additions of three transfers that began classes in January: Deven Mason (Albuquerque N.M./Va Tech), Isaiah Madrid, (Albuquerque, N.M./FGCU) and Gavin Craig (Chicago, Ill./Coastal Carolina),” Avery said. “These three have already begun training with the team and have helped us grow, and we expect this incoming group to do the same when they arrive in August.”

“As always, our emphasis has been on finding outstanding soccer players who are high character young men that fit the culture of our team and our university,” Avery added. “This search has once again led us all over the world to ultimately bring these guys home to Valparaiso. My coaching staff should get a special mention for their tireless work, as should our colleagues in the compliance and admissions offices. I also give a tremendous amount of credit to our current players, both the returning squad and the outgoing seniors. Their performance on the field has brought high level players to our doorstep, and their tightknit family culture has encouraged new additions through the door. We hope to build off a very good season in 2014, and we think we have found the right next group to help us continue our development as a program.”

Full name: William Biehl

Hometown: Chesterton, Indiana

Position: MF/FOR

Height: 5’10”

Weight: 150 lbs.

Previous School: Chesterton High School

Club Team: Indiana Invaders

Avery on Biehl:  “Billy is a very talented athlete who has a bright future ahead of him. He was clearly one of the best high school players in the state last fall, with a First-Team All-State award among the many accolades he received this year, and led his Chesterton High School team to a historic season. We’ve had the chance to watch him closely over the years, coach him in our VIP camps, and there is no doubt he has what it takes to succeed as a Division I soccer player. He will need some transition time to the pace of this level, as most freshmen do, but his soccer decisions are very good, his technique is clean, his pace is electric, and I think he will adapt quickly. Billy has been extremely successful in track as well, and that fitness foundation fits perfectly with his development in soccer. Region fans who have been following Billy for years should really appreciate watching him take his game to another level at Valparaiso.”

Full name: Bradley Brack

Hometown: Crown Point, Indiana

Position: GK

Height: 6’3”

Weight: 175 lbs.

Previous School: Merrillville High School

Club Team: Millennium Vardar

Avery on Brack:  “Bradley is another local product that has had a tremendous high school career at Merrillville. He was a well deserving First-Team All-State selection, and we think he has the tools to develop into a very good college goalkeeper. Bradley looks like a modern day goalkeeper, long and physically able to command his box, and his handling technique is very clean. Bradley had been on our list for a few years now as a player to watch, and his performance in our most recent VIP in January really pushed it over the top for me. Every time I see him play, he has improved. His best soccer is ahead of him and I know Coach David Stroud, our goalkeepers coach, is excited to get to work with him because we are both of the belief that all of the tools of a high level goalkeeper are present. Bradley has great potential.”

Full name: Hunter Finnegan

Hometown: West Chicago, Illinois

Position: DEF

Height: 6’3”

Weight: 160 lbs.

Previous School: Wheaton Academy

Club Team: Campton United

Avery on Finnegan:  “We lost a large group of defenders from last year’s team, and while we have a strong core returning, we are excited to have Hunter sign on because we feel he adds depth in an area of specific need. Hunter is a left sided back that also has the ability to play higher up the field. Hunter was a key component to Wheaton Academy’s highly successful season at left back, and we feel like he is another example of a player that is really coming into his own both physically and in terms of his soccer. In our most recent January camp it was clear that Hunter had enough toughness and grit about him to be successful defensively, and that he was able to possess the ball and get forward in the key moments which is also what we ask from our defenders. We make it a point to try to build the game from back to front and Hunter’s ability with the ball as a passer, and with his delivery of crosses, leads me to believe that he will continue to develop into a contributing player for our team.”

Full name: Michael Marchionna

Hometown: Naperville, Illinois

Position: MF/FOR

Height: 6’2”

Weight: 175 lbs.

Previous School: Naperville Central High School

Club Team: Sockers FC USSDA

Avery on Marchionna:  “Michael comes to us from a talented Sockers FC U.S. Soccer Academy side and we are excited to watch his transition from the academy to the college game. Michael has an interesting combination of assets in that he is a big, strong player who has soft feet. Michael is a thoughtful player with a high soccer IQ, and his running off the ball and willingness to get into dangerous positions is something we really liked. We would often see Michael play in a wide channel, be clean and sharp with his touches, connect his passes and have a relatively quiet but very solid performance – but then he’d make one telling run and end up scoring a goal on the back post. He finds himself in great positions and we think he has the potential to assert himself more and put his stamp on a game. Michael has the potential to really take off as a player in the next few years, and he has the character to put in the work that will be necessary.” 

Full name: Johnny McArtor

Hometown: Manila, Philippines

Position: MF

Height: 5’6”

Weight: 140 lbs.

Previous School: International School Manila

Club Team: Socceroo FC

Avery on McArtor:  “We are really excited to add Johnny to our squad. Johnny is a soccer player, first and foremost. He has clean feet, makes quick and creative decisions, and has the ability to operate in the middle third of the field where it is often busy and fast and he seems to somehow make the game slow down around him. Johnny has had some interesting life experiences by moving from Chicago to the Philippines for high school, and I think that this kind of experience has only enhanced his soccer, and has given him some youth national team experience with the Philippines. Assistant coach Kelly Altman worked closely with Johnny last summer as his team coach at the Notre Dame elite camp where Johnny was an All Star selection, and as we continued to monitor Johnny’s progress over the past year, we were convinced he would be a good addition to the squad. Johnny is a possession oriented soccer player that is coming to a team that wants to keep the ball and add players into the game, and it’s a great fit to have him officially join us in Valparaiso.” 

Full name: Okama Thompson

Hometown: Portmore, Jamaica

Position: DEF/MF

Height: 6’0”

Weight: 180 lbs.

Previous School: Cincinnati State/Spanish Town High School

Club Team: N/A

Avery on Thompson: “We are really excited about Okama and what he will add to our team, both from a soccer standpoint and from a leadership standpoint. Okama is a winner. He’s a tough, mature young man and he has a very bright future in the game. As a player, he is a defensive midfielder that does a great job at protecting the space in front of the back four which allows the attacking players greater freedom to take risk and get forward. He plays simply and with great understanding of the flow of the game. Okama is a childhood friend of current midfielder Ramone Howell, and these two players will be a lot of fun to watch in the center of our midfield. Okama has been the captain of a very successful Cincinnati State team, and his leadership ability will also be tapped into for the next two years here at Valparaiso. A veteran presence in the deep part of the midfield is exactly what this team needed most in this recruiting class, and Okama can deliver that. 

-Valpo Men's Soccer-