Eagles add players from across the US, Germany, Belgium and Iceland
Longtime head coach Ed Kelly announced Boston College soccer’s 12-man recruiting class this week, as the Eagles look to reload after a season that saw them advance to the Elite Eight.
As usual, Kelly’s incoming class is from all over the map. Two incoming Eagles are from Germany, Maximillian Schulze-Geisthovel and Lasse Lehmann.
Schulze-Geisthovel is a transfer who spent his first three seasons with St. Leo’s University in Florida, where he scored 13 goals and added 4 assists in 17 games last season. His veteran presence in the midfield (he’s 22) will make him one of just four seniors on what’s looking to be a very young team.
Lasse Lehmann, another midfielder, is the son of famous retired German national team star Jans Lehmann. He was once part of the Arsenal youth academy system and spent last season with the Stuttgart Kickers in the 3.Bundesliga.
Competing the international contingent is Younes Boudadi, a right back from Ypres, Belgium. A dual national, he has played for Morocco at the U17 and U20 levels. Boudadi was part of the FC Brugges youth teams in recent seasons.
College soccer recruiting rankings and information is obviously spotty compared to football and basketball, but to the extent that rankings exist, Top Drawer Soccer ranks some recruits, and incoming midfielder Callum Johnson is listed as a 4-star. Johnson, a New Jersey native, has come up through the New York Red Bulls academy, which is producing a number of the top American college soccer recruits. Johnson’s older brother Christian played at BC.
Forward Elliot Smith-Hastie, a California native, seems to be another of the class's gems. He was 2016 Gatorade High School Player of the Year in California, traditionally an American soccer hotbed.
The other commits are GK Jack Bacon (RI), defender Carson Davis (CA), defender Fintan Devlin (CA), forward Adam French (MA), midfielder Brandon Girard (MA), defender Tomas Gudmandsson (Connecticut, originally from newfound soccer superpower Iceland), and midfielder Lewis Mustoe (MA).
BC soccer kicks off in just over a month and will go in with high hopes after losing just three players from their Elite Eight team.