Ohio State - (Three Star Class Ranking) -John Bluem will welcome eight newcomers to Columbus in 2009.  The class includes several players with very impressive club experience that should help prepare them for the transition to the college game.   Attack oriented forward Chris Hegngi out of DeMatha High School in the talent rich Washington, D.C. area is among the members of the class with the potential to make an immediate impact.   Bluem will enter his thirteenth season at the helm of the Ohio State program with six starters back from the 2008 team that was 9-9-3 overall with a 2-4-0 mark in Big Ten play.  Most people considered the 2008 campaign a rebuilding season in Columbus following several key player losses from Ohio State’s 2007 team that was the runner-up for the NCAA Title with a 17-4-5 overall record and won the Big Ten Title.  Regardless, the Buckeyes performed well enough in 2008 to claim an at-large berth to the NCAA Tourney and defeat Oakland in penalty kicks in first round play before closing out the season with a tough 1-0 double overtime loss to Akron.  Not a bad season for a team that was in a rebuilding mode.  Ohio State has earned six NCAA Tourney invites over the past nine years and along the way has become a solid program, a program with high expectations and one that replaces talent as opposed to lamenting its loss.  If the new recruits mesh with the returning players Ohio State certainly has a good shot at an NCAA Tourney berth again in 2009.  However, the bottom line is that with the graduation of Big Ten Second Team members midfielder Danny Inzarry (6g, 1a) and defender Tim Gabel (1g, 4a) along with midfielders Geoff Marsh amd German Gomez  (2g, 0a), defender Patrick Roan, and goalkeeper Drew Czekanski, the Buckeyes will be again be residing in rebuilding land in 2009. The Buckeyes will miss the scoring punch provided by Irizarry but with senior Andrew Magill (3g, 6a) who was a Second Team All-Big Ten selection last year,  junior Konrad Warzycha (3g, 4a), and sophomore Joshua Breto (2g, 3a) returning up-top Bluem will have several proven goal scorers heading into the 2009 campaign.  Sophomores Eric Shringley and Sam Sprauer are among other returning forwards who should be in the mix.  The midfield is where the Buckeye’s fortunes will likely rise or fall in 2009 since Bluem must find a replacement for center midfielder Irizarry as well as Marsh who had become a fixture on the right side for the Buckeyes during his four year tenure in Columbus.  Junior Matt Gold (1g, 1a), who has two years of starting experience under his belt, returns to give Ohio State a very effective defensive midfielder.   Junior Sam Scales (1g, 4a) also returns after serving as the starting left midfielder last year.  Junior Julian Sisman (2g, 0a) and sophomore Ross Dickson (0g, 2a) are among returning midfielders who will seek to play a greater role in 2009.  Senior Doug Verhoff (1g, 3a), junior Jordan Lomnicki, and sophomores Dave Tiemstra (2g, 0a) who was a 2008 All-Big Ten Freshman selection return to form the core of the Buckeye backline.  Sophomores Dalton Summers (0g, 1a) and David Schade and seniors Joe Moore and Scott Marguglio are among other returning players who will be in the hunt for playing time in the back.  The goalkeeper position seems to be up for grabs heading into the 2009 campaign.  Redshirt senior Byron Neal is the only goalkeeper other than Czekanski to see any action last year.   Last year five of the seven Big Ten schools earned an invite to the NCAA Tournament.  So much parity now exists in the Big Ten that almost every team in the league will enter the 2009 campaign guardedly optimistic.  Look for Ohio State to field a competitive side in 2009 but all things considered they will more than likely be in the shadow of Indiana, Michigan, Northwestern, and Michigan State in Big Ten play. 

 

Jeff Bendawald - Meridian, Idaho - Defender - Yavapai College - A transfer from Yavapai College where he started fifty of fifty-one career matches - Played club for Bosise National. 

 

Christopher Hegngi - Silver Springs, Maryland - Forward - DeMatha High School - Member of the D.C. United youth development program - All-Met selection at DeMatha - National Team pool.

 

Benjamin Killian - Round Rock, Texas - Defender - Played club for Lonestar Aztex U-17.

 

Sebastian Rivas - Duarte, California - Midfielder - Bishop Amat Memorial High School - Played with the Real SoCal Club team - First-Team All-League and All-Region. 

 

Alexander Wimmer - Newtown, Pennsylvania - Goalkeeper - Council Rock North High School - Played at the Munich International School - Three-year member of FC Delco.

 

Chris Gomez - Ballwin, Missouri - Defender

 

Peter Lee - Midlothian, Virginia

 

Ryan Lee - Moreland Hills, Ohio