EDINBURG – University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) men's soccer head coach Paul Leese announced on Wednesday the signing of three student-athletes, including midfielder Angel Lopez and forwards Sergio Loredo Jr. and Juanito Ramirez for the 2016-17 academic year.
 
A senior at Humble High School, Lopez is in his fifth year with the Texas Rush Academy. He is currently with their U18 team, having scored five goals in 12 starts. Last season, Lopez scored 12 goals with the same team, starting 29 times in 30 matches while leading the team to the U.S. Soccer Development Academy (USSDA) Playoffs. The Rush finished 2014-15 ranked ninth in the nation. Lopez spent the previous three seasons with the U16 squad, scoring 15 goals in 58 starts over his final two seasons. He has also been a member of the U.S. National Training Center Program for the last four years.
 
The No. 7 recruit in the state of Texas and one of the top 150 in the nation as ranked by TopDrawerSoccer.com, Loredo is a senior at Klein High School in Spring and is currently in his seventh season with Texans SC Houston of the USSDA. He was the Player of the Year last year after scoring nine goals for the U18 team. He was the leading scorer on the U16 team the previous season, tallying six goals. Loredo has been part of the U.S. National Training Center Program and U.S. Club Soccer id² for the last three years and has been scouted for inclusion with the U.S. Soccer National Team programs. During the summer of 2013, Loredo was invited to train with the youth program of Celtic FC in the Scottish Premiership. Loredo played one season of high school soccer before committing all of his soccer time to his club program, earning District Newcomer of the Year and Golden Boot honors.
 
Ramirez is currently competing for the No. 6 club team in the nation, U18 FC Dallas Academy, a team he has been with since 2013 after moving to Dallas from Winnsboro. Last season, Ramirez led the U16 team to the USSDA National Championship after scoring seven goals in 28 regular season matches. He also scored the final goal in the title match against New York Red Bulls Academy. Ramirez's team went on to compete in the 2014-15 Generation Adidas Cup, winning its pool before falling to Eintracht Frankfurt (Germany) in a shootout in the semifinals. Ramirez's club recently competed in the 2016 Copa Chivas Tuornament against some of the top youth academics across the world, beating Monterrey Rayados (Mexico) and Beneficia (Portugal) and tying Cruziero (Brazil) before falling to eventual champion FC Midtjylland (Denmark) in a shootout in the quarterfinals.
 
"After our inaugural year in the Western Athletic Conference, it has been easier to communicate our ambition as a Division I men's soccer program," Vaqueros head coach Paul Leese said. "Top level recruits in the state of Texas can now see the team we have built and visualize our future success. As a result, I think we have signed incredibly talented players in this 2016 class, but more importantly, these players understand well the culture at UTRGV since they have shared in our journey this year.
 
"I am excited to have these three young men join us in the fall. In the US Development Academy, they each have competed at the highest level of youth soccer in the country. They fit in well with our style of play here at UTRGV, and after preseason training, they will compete for starting time, which I know motivates them greatly. I have gotten to know them well during the recruiting process and I am eager to work with them at the college level to help develop their game and to fulfill their potential in the sport they love.
 
"I must thank Coach [Donovan] Dowling for the tireless work he has committed to identifying and recruiting the talented players that we have signed who will represent our university on the field, in the classroom, and in the Rio Grande Valley community. The future of UTRGV Men's Soccer is very bright and I am pleased that Angel, Sergio and Juanito have chosen to be part of our journey."
 

NAME	POS.	HT	WT	YR	HOMETOWN/PREVIOUS SCHOOL	CLUB TEAM
Angel Lopez	M	5-7	150	Fr.	Humble, TX / Humble High School	Texas Rush USSDA
Sergio Loredo Jr.	F	5-6	145	Fr.	Houston, TX / Klein High School	Texans SC Houston USSDA
Juanito Ramirez	F	5-7	150	Fr.	Dallas, TX / Lone Star High School	FC Dallas USSDA

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