Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The next crop of Longwood men’s soccer talent has arrived as head coach Jon Atkinson and assistant coach Sean Pierce announced the addition of 16 players for the upcoming 2022 season.

The incoming class includes transfers Luca Brügmann, José Carlos, Gonzalo Carrasco, Alexandre Durand, Victor Gouvea, Marco Magnoli, Alex Pike, Renan Santos, Eden Shachar and Ethan Stevenson.

The incoming freshmen are Franco Di Giovanni, Paul Espinoza, Jordan Ott and Joshua Yoder.

“As with each year you hope and pray you get the recruiting right,” said head coach Jon Atkinson on the newest men’s soccer players arrival in Farmville. “Undoubtedly, we have a great core group returning who epitomize what it takes to be a representative of our jersey. Our retention has been great, we graduated a bunch of key guys and feel we have added a whole different dynamic this season which Sean (Pierce) has to take a bunch of credit as he has delved into players who can immediately help us improve.”

“The list is too many to mention in person but so far to say they are experienced players who have talent and are coming to Longwood to win.”

Luca Brügmann is a 6-2 transfer central midfielder from Heidekamp, Germany who’s had stints at Truett McConnell University and Reinhardt. For the Truett McConnell bears, Brügmann appeared in nine games with six starts and recorded 13 shots.

José Carlos is a 5-11 forward who transferred from the University of Central Arkansas. Carlos is originally from Málaga, Spain. At UCAS, Carlos appeared in 26 games and scored twice to go along with two assists. His first collegiate goal was a game-winner against Central Baptist in what was his first career start in 2019.

Gonzalo Carrasco is a 5-8 transfer midfielder from Madrid, Spain. Carrasco previously played for the Mississippi College Choctaws where he tallied 37 appearances and 20 starts. Carrasco recorded four assists his junior season, two of which came in back-to-back victories against Union (TN) and Spring Hill.

Franco Di Giovanni is a 6-0 freshman from Bolton, Ontario. Giovanni has played for the Bolton Wanderers and Caledon F.C. He won an FTF Combine man of the match in 2020 and won the Woodbridge Classic Tournament with Bryst in 2019.

Alexandre Durand is a 5-10 goalkeeper from Paris, France. Durand has played at Wisconsin-Parkside and Malone University prior to transferring to Longwood. In his collegiate career Durand has recorded 253 saves and has had at least a .716 save percentage in each of his four seasons.

Paul Espinoza is a 5-6 freshman from Fairfax. Espinoza was named to the All-District team, All-Region team and All-Virginia team his senior year and made the All-District team his junior year.

Victor Gouvea is a 6-2 center-back from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Gouvea transferred from Casper College where he started and played in 11 games. He scored once and had three assists and was also named an All-American by the NJCAA.

Marco Magnoli is a 6-1 midfielder from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Magnoli played his last three seasons at Wayland Baptist before transferring to Longwood. At Wayland Baptist, Magnoli played in 30 games and started in 25. The Argentina native scored 21 goals and added 13 assists in his two seasons at Wayland Baptist. Magnoli tallied a nine point performance (2 G, 5 A) against Bacone on September 7th last season.

Jordan Ott is a 6’5 goalkeeper from Fort Worth, Texas. The freshman holds five records at his alma mater including single season shutouts, career shutouts, assists by a goalkeeper, most single year and most career saves.

Alex Pike is a 6-0 defender from Thunder Bay Ontario and like teammate Marco Magnoli, transferred to Longwood from Wayland Baptist prior to the 2022 season. At Wayland Baptist, Pike played in 33 games, and started 32. The Ontario native scored twice in two seasons with his first career goal coming against Panhandle State in October of 2020.

Renan Santos is a 5-10 midfielder from Niteroi, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Santos transferred from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley where he played in 16 games in two years, making 10 starts. Santos scored his first collegiate goal against Seattle University in February of 2021.

Eden Shachar is a 5-6 central midfielder from Lehavim, Isreal. Shachar had stints at Oral Roberts and Flagler University before transferring to Longwood before the season. In his career, Shachar has played in 37 matches and scored once in 2019 against Palm Beach Atlantic.

Ethan Stevenson is a 5-8 forward from Clover, South Carolina who transferred from Winthrop University. In his first season in the Big South, Stevenson scored five goals and added six assists to earn a spot on the All-Freshman team. His six assists were good for fourth most in the conference.

Joshua Yoder is a 6-2 center back from Charlottesville, Virginia. For the past year, Yoder has played with Richmond United’s u19 team as well as the u23 side in the summer.

With Richmond United’s u19 team, Yoder finished first in the top bracket of the Jeff Cup. With the u23’s, Richmond United won the CCL Pro u23 league last year and placed second this summer. The Charlottesville native started and played all games for both teams this summer.

Longwood men’s soccer opens up their season with three exhibition games starting August 14th. They open up the season on the road at East Tennessee State University on August 25.