Aug. 8, 2008
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The 2008 freshman class for the Notre Dame men’s soccer team has been ranked 12th nationally according to College Soccer News. The publication annually ranks the top-40 freshman classes in the country. The Fighting Irish welcome in seven rookies that will help solidify a veteran roster.
Three of the freshmen appeared in the College Soccer News `100 freshmen to keep an eye on’ list. Receiving that honor was midfielder Brendan King (Naperville, Ill.), midfielder/forward Michael Rose (Severna Park, Md.) and goalkeeper Will Walsh (Chester Twp., N.J.).
King became the program’s first early enrollee as he began classes at Notre Dame in January and competed with the team during the ’08 spring season. He was in the U.S. soccer residency program and a member of the 2007 U-17 U.S. World Cup team. The two-time NSCAA All-American (2006 & 2007) was also a Parade Magazine All-American. This summer, King was part of the Chicago Fire Super-20 team that recently captured the North American National Championship. He was unable to participate in the finals since he was over in Germany practicing with Mainz, a Bundesliga squad.
Rose was named a NSCAA high school All-American in 2007 and was the adidas Golden Boot winner at the 2006 USYSA national championship. He is member of the Baltimore Casa Mia Bays squad that won the 2008 USSF U-18 National Championship. Rose was part of the 2006 USYSA U-16 national and Region 1 championship and the 2006 and 2007 Maryland state championship. He played on the Maryland ’90 ODP team (2002-2007) that won the 2006 national co-championship in addition to the 2005 and 2006 Region 1 title.
Walsh was tabbed as the starting goalkeeper during his sophomore season at Delbarton High School. As a junior, he suffered an injury that kept him out the entire campaign. Walsh returned as a senior and his team was a state semifinalist and conference champion. He was a member of the United States soccer national team training camp in November of 2007 and was on the U.S. national training select team at Nike friendlies in December of 2007.
Rounding out the 2008 Notre Dame rookie class is midfielder/defender Aaron Maund (Dorchester, Mass.), defender Sean McGrath (Indianapolis, Ind.), midfielder Adam Mena (Holland, Mich.) and midfielder/defender Chris Sutton (Apple Valley, Minn.).
Notre Dame will open the 2008 season on Friday, Aug. 29 against Akron at the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic in Bloomington, Ind. Game time is set for 5:00 p.m. (ET).
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