Anteaters sign prospects

Eight high school players and two community college transfers have

signed national letters of intent to play for the UC Irvine men’s

soccer program, Anteaters Coach George Kuntz announced.

Craig Ettinger, a 5-foot-10 forward, helped Yavapai Junior College

in Arizona win national championships in 2002 and 2003, while Joshua

Taylor, a 6-2 forward, helped Cerritos College to the state title

game as a freshman.

Four Orange County players are among the high school recruits, two

each from Fountain Valley High and Northwood High in Irvine.

Joel Baker, a 5-10 midfielder, and Davis Sias, a 6-1 defender,

shared team MVP honors at Fountain Valley, while Sias was the Sunset

League MVP for the Barons.

Cory Taylor, a 5--11 forward, was Northwood’s MVP last season,

when he scored 16 goals and added nine assists.

His Timberwolves teammate, Robert Garcia, a 5-10 forward, scored

10 goals in 10 Pacific Coast League games and was on the California

South Olympic Development League team from 2000-04.

Christopher Francis, a 6-2 forward from Gilbert High in Arizona,

amassed 27 goals and 24 assists in 27 games as a senior, including

seven game-winning goals. He is the school’s all-time leading scorer

with 62 goals and 53 assists.

Kyle Taylor, a 6-1 forward, was team MVP at Royal High in Simi

Valley, earning first-team All-CIF Southern Section Division II

recognition as a senior.

Ryan Vickery, a 6-2 goalkeeper, was a first-team all-state

selection at Red Mountain High in Mesa, Ariz., where he maintained a

4.0 grade-point average.

Robert Macedo, a 5-10 forward from Salesian High in Los Angeles,

rounds out the recruits.

“We are excited about the potential of our recruiting class this

year,” Kuntz said. “The attacking players we have recruited fit well

within our system of play and complement our team. We have added some

strong players defensively, particularly in goal and at the center

back position. This recruiting class adds size, speed, and skill to

an already talented group returning next year.”

UCI returns 21 players from last year’s team that finished 7-13,

3-7 in the Big West Conference.