Crusader men's soccer head coach Mike Avery announced four newcomers for 2010 on Thursday.
Valparaiso University head men’s soccer coach Mike Avery announced today that four talented student-athletes will
join the Crusader program for the 2010 campaign. The introduction of transfer students, Guy Shabtay and Lior Avisror, and high school seniors, Eppokrates Litos and Tom Serratore, kick off the announcement of
the Valparaiso men’s soccer recruiting class for 2010, a group that will be unveiled in its entirety
over the next few weeks.
“We are coming off a solid
season in 2009, a season where a lot of hard work over the past two years
started to bear some fruit in terms of success on the field,” said Avery. “Obviously, we want more, and we want to
continue our trend of building into a nationally competitive side that is a
realistic contender for a Horizon League title, and our goal of becoming a team
capable of playing deep in the NCAA tournament.
We know we have some work yet to do, but we are clearly making progress,
and the players we have added to the fold in this recruiting class will
definitely help us, both in short term and in the future.”
“We also have the benefit of
sponsoring a reserve team, something that has been hugely beneficial to our
overall soccer program. We had a few
freshmen players last season, for example, that started as reserve players but
ended the season as regulars on the first team,” said Avery. “The reserve team setup allows us to keep a
slightly larger pool of players active through regular training and specific
reserve team matches. We’ve created a
real soccer culture on our campus because we now have a virtual army of engaged
and excited soccer players. Some of this
recruiting class will go straight to the first team, and others may head into
the reserves, but all are important and all have the chance to really have a
hand in our future success.”
Shabtay, a
promising striker and native of Ramat-Gan, Israel (Blich H.S.), will transfer to Valparaiso from Prairie State College in Chicago Heights, Ill.
where he starred for two years under Pioneer coach David Spataru. Shabtay, an
NJCAA All-Region honoree and two-time First Team All-Skyway Conference
selection, was one of the top marksmen in the country at the NJCAA Division I
level, scoring 29 goals in 28 games over his two seasons. During that time, the Pioneers earned an
impressive 24-14-1 record on the pitch, the best two-year record in PSC program
history. Shabtay began his soccer career as a youth player in his native Israel with SC Maccabbi Tel-Aviv, one of the leading clubs in the country. He later joined SC Bnei Yehuda and SC Ramat
Ha'shaorn until he was drafted to a mandatory military service. Shabtay will have two years of eligibility
remaining as a Crusader.
“Guy is a very dangerous
attacker with a fantastic first touch and above average speed,” said
Avery. “He is a bit older than most
incoming players due to his military service in Israel, and his varied life
experiences and playing background gives us a mature, poised, and focused
player capable of stepping right in and helping a veteran team get where it
wants to go. Guy is also a talented
student with aspirations as an engineer, and a young man with great character,
so he is an ideal fit for Valparaiso
University and our soccer
team.”
Shabtay will be joined by Prairie State
teammate Avisror, a tough and seasoned defender and native of Yehud, Israel
(Mekif Yehud H.S.).
An All-Skyway Conference and NJCAA All-Region selection, Avisror was an
anchor in the Pioneer defense in 2009 as a sophomore. Avisror started his college soccer career at
NAIA member Colombia [Mo.] College before transferring
to PSC, where he will earn his AA degree this summer. Avisror played for most of his youth with
Hapoel Ramat Gan before moving at the age of 17 to Ramat Amidar, where his club
was crowned league champion. Avisror
also spent three years in the Israeli army before coming to the United States
for college. Avisror will have two years
of eligibility remaining with the Crusaders as he pursues his degree in
international business.
“Lior is a smart and tough defender that adds maturity
and versatility to our back line,” said Avery.
“His positioning is very good, he uses his body well, he is strong in
the air, and he distributes the ball cleanly with both feet. He is a good soccer player first and
foremost, which we like in our defensive players, but he is also tough in the
tackle and hard to beat. Lior has some
natural leadership qualities on the field that are essential for an organized
defense and his communication skills are outstanding. We have a strong group of defenders
returning, including JP Lytle who sat out all of last year due to injury, so
Lior’s addition gives our group great depth and a lot of options across the
back.”
A local high school product
joins the Valparaiso ranks with the addition of
Litos, a forward and native of Saint John, Ind. (Lake Central H.S./Indiana
Magic SC). Litos finished his senior
year with 20 goals and five assists while helping to lead Coach Jereme Rainwater’s team to the IHSAA
State Final Four. Litos raked in the
awards following his senior year, earning a spot on the NSCAA High School
All-American squad, as well as being named the Post-Tribune’s 2009 Player of the Year and being honored on the NWI Times 2009 All-Area team. Litos transferred to Lake
Central from Chicago's
Morgan Park Academy,
where he scored 34 goals in 20 games as a junior and was a three-time All-Conference
selection in the Independent School League.
As a member of the Indiana Magic soccer club, Litos helped his club to 3
national indoor championships.
“Krates is an exciting pickup
for us as he is one of the most naturally gifted soccer players to come out of Indiana this year,” said
Avery. “His soccer instincts separate
him from most youth players, and he has the athletic ability to pull off the
creative things he imagines. As he steps
up to another level in Division I soccer, Krates realizes he is going to have
to become a little more active off the ball, and he needs to focus on becoming
a better defender within the system we play.
We will teach him those things because he is a good kid that is very
eager to learn, and I am excited to see what he will look like as a player in a
year or two because he has such a great starting point. I think it’s important that we land our share
of the top local players, and this year I think we can proudly say we’ve done
that with Eppokrates.”
Serratore, a native of Tinley Park, Ill. (Andrew
H.S./Chicago Fire
Academy), joins the
Crusaders from the talent rich Chicago-land soccer scene, adding another top-level
goalkeeper to an already impressive list of names at the position. A talented and experienced net-minder, Serratore
will further enhance the Crusader depth in the net, which already includes
two-time Horizon League Goalkeeper of the Year Ryan Schwarz returning for his fifth year and 2008 Horizon League All-Newcomer
selection Kyle Zobeck returning as a
redshirt sophomore. As a member of the
Chicago Magic development academy, Serratore won two club national
championships, and won a third as a member of the Illinois ODP program. At Andrew
High School, Serratore
was a three-time All-Conference and All-Area Selection, as well as a three-time
Academic All-Conference choice.
“Tom is a terrific
addition to our program, and we are very excited about his decision to join us,”
said Avery. “Coach Jeff Oleck has a very strong pool of goalkeepers to work with, and
I know he will do a wonderful job developing Tom because Tom already has a lot
of the tools necessary to be a top level goalkeeper. Tom is athletic, quick, technically very
sound, and he is a terrific organizer and communicator. He plays in a great club environment with the
Chicago Fire
Academy under coach Sole Antonijevic (father of Valparaiso midfielder Stefan Antonijevic), and I know he will
come in and make our whole group better with his effort and his personality.”
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