SEATTLE -- The SPU men's soccer team has added two outstanding high school seniors to their 2012 recruiting class, Ian Grissom and Cody Lang.  With the addition of these two players it brings a total of eight new faces to the roster for the 2012 season.
 
“Ian and Cody really solidify our roster and give us great depth at every position on the field.  We believe that this recruiting class will provide us with competition at every position on the field, which only makes us better,” said Coach Mark Collings, who directed SPU into the West Region championship game of the 2011 NCAA Division II Tournament.

Grissom plays for Gig Harbor High School and is their active leading scorer with 31 goals the past three years. This past winter Ian helped lead his Washington Premier FC U-18 team to the 2012 Washington state championship, registering 28 goals during the season.

“Ian is a big, strong target forward that has a knack for scoring goals. He is able to use his size and pace to get in behind the defense," Collings said.

"I have been really impressed with his development over the past year under Coach Webber at Washington Premier.  We're expecting him to compete for some minutes up top right away.”

Lang plays his high school soccer at Spokane's Lewis & Clark High School where he is a three-year starter and an honor roll student. He played his club ball for Spokane Shadow and had 14 shutouts this past season.

“Cody is a goalkeeper with good agility and quickness. He is a good shot stopper and his long frame lends to his effectiveness in goal," said Collings.

"Like Ian, we have seen a tremendous amount of growth since the first time we saw him at our ID camp.  We see a lot of similarities between Cody and Zach, which is a great thing for the future of our program.”

The duo joins an SPU recruiting class that includes six players who committed in early February. All eight recruits are from the Northwest.

“I couldn't be more excited about how our 2012 recruiting class has taken shape," Collings concluded. "The coaching staff has dedicated a lot of time to this class and I believe that we have a great mix of young men to help us continue on our current trend of great student athletes.”

The eight Falcons newcomers will begin their collegiate careers with training camp in August. They join an SPU team that registered a 14-4-2 record last season and placed second in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

Five seniors departed from last year's team, leaving the squad with eight returning starters.


2012 Seattle Pacific Men's Soccer Recruiting Class
Ian Adams, F, 5-10, 160, Shoreline, Wash. (Shorecrest HS/Crossfire Academy)
Garrett Jones, MF, 5-9, 145, Boise, Idaho (Boise HS/Idaho Rush)
Davis Karaica, MF, 6-1, 180, Snoqualmie, Wash. (Mount Si HS/Eastside FC)
Matt Merchant, MF, 5-11, 155, Portland, Ore. (Central Catholic HS/FC Portland Academy)
Bryson Pavel, D, 6-0, 160, Boise, Idaho (Boise HS/Idaho Rush)
Graham Reid, D, 5-10, 160, Boise, Idaho (Boise HS/Idaho Rush)
Ian Grissom, F, 6-3, 185, Gig Harbor, Wash (Gig Harbor HS/Washington Premier FC)
Cody Lang, GK, 6-4, 165, Spokane, Wash (Lewis & Clark HS/Spokane Shadow)