For the second straight year, UCLA men’s soccer has landed the consensus top-ranked recruiting class in the country, the team announced Friday.
The Bruins will welcome seven new recruits, including College Soccer News’ No. 2 ranked recruit in the country, defender John Requejo Jr.
“John was the first member of our 2014 recruiting class to commit to UCLA,” said coach Jorge Salcedo in a statement. “His technique on the ball will allow him to thrive in our possession based attacking system as either a left winger or a left back.”
The other recruits include forward Abu Danladi (No. 22), defender Chase Gasper (No. 33), midfielder Joab Santoyo (No. 65), forward Christian Chavez (No. 88) and midfielder William Cline (No. 115), along with transfer forward Larry Ndjock from Loyola University Maryland.
The group should fill various needs for the Bruins, including forward, a sore point for a team that struggled to score at times last season. Mixed with the returning players, the new recruits will likely help the Bruins build on their success. Though UCLA fell unexpectedly in the NCAA quarterfinals in 2013, the Bruins did manage to earn the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament.
With this year’s top recruiting class in the bag, coach Salcedo has achieve that rank five times in his ten years at the helm of the Bruin soccer program. He reeled in the No. 1 ranked recruiting classes in 2004, 2006, 2010, 2013 and, now, 2014.
Compiled by Chris Kalra, Bruin Sports senior staff.