Men’s soccer adds two after losing one senior

The men’s soccer team, which lost just one player this off-season, announced the signing of two recruits slated to play for the team in the 2006 season. Neven Subotic and Marc Doherty, who are already enrolled at USF, will join the team this summer, coach George Kiefer said.

“They’re both very good,” said Kiefer, who is coming off an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2005. “We are battling a lot of injuries right now, but both guys are doing very well.”

Subotic, a 6-foot-4 midfielder from Bradenton, has been a member of the U.S. Under-17 National Team since 2004. In 2005, he started 11 of the 20 matches for the Under-17 team, scoring three goals and one assist. He attended Edison Academy Center and was named an NSCAA/adidas Youth All-American.

Doherty played at Newton High School in Connecticut and led his team to the quarterfinals of the state championship in 2005. He was named an NSCAA/adidas High School All-American as well as the Connecticut High School Coaches Association Midfielder of the Year.

Kiefer said numerous players are nursing injuries, such as seniors Hunter West and Dane Brenner and junior Rodrigo Hidalgo, while others, such as Kevon Neaves, are working with the Trinidad and Tobago national team. But the one starter who graduated last season, midfielder Brian Gil, will leave a defensive midfielder position open, and both recruits will be eyeing the spot.

“To replace him is going to be tough. I don’t think we can replace Gil,” Kiefer said. “We can find a guy who does things different, and both guys could play in (his) spot, but it could be someone else.”

Kiefer also couldn’t comment on other players he has yet to sign, but did say his 2006 signing class will include five or six players.