July 15, 2004

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - The University of Virginia's 2004 men's soccer recruiting class for this fall was ranked 16th in the country by College Soccer News in its Top-40 rankings of collegiate recruiting classes. UVa was one of seven schools from the Atlantic Coast Conference to have a recruiting class ranked in the Top-20 and was also one of three schools from the Commonwealth of Virginia to land in the Top-25.

UCLA's recruiting class was listed as the top class in the rankings, followed by Duke, South Florida, North Carolina and Maryland to round out the Top-5. Wake Forest fell in at #6, followed by SMU, Virginia Tech, UC Santa Barbara and Clemson to fill out the Top-10. Other schools listed ahead of UVa in the rankings were Notre Dame, Oregon State, Connecticut, Indiana and New Mexico, respectively.

The Cavaliers are coming off the heels of a 2003 season where they finished 11-10-2 overall, 3-3-0 in the ACC. Virginia won the 2003 ACC Championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 23rd consecutive year before bowing out in the NCAA Third Round. UVa relied heavily on its 2003 recruiting class of newcomers to fill several valuable roles last season. Virginia's 2003 recruiting class was ranked eighth in the nation in last year's College Soccer News Top-40 2003 Recruiting Classes poll.

Here is a look at the Top-40 2004 recruiting classes according to College Soccer News:

College Soccer News Top-40 2004 Recruiting Classes

1. UCLA
2. Duke
3. South Florida
4. North Carolina
5. Maryland
6. Wake Forest
7. SMU
8. Virginia Tech
9. UC Santa Barbara
10. Clemson
11. Notre Dame
12. Oregon State
13. Connecticut
14. Indiana
15. New Mexico
16. VIRGINIA
17. Stanford
18. Michigan
19. St. John's
20. Saint Louis
21. Furman
22. Washington
23. Old Dominion
24. Tulsa
25. Boston University
26. UNC-Greensboro
27. Loyola Marymount
28. Boston College
29. Penn State
30. Santa Clara
31. California
32. Creighton
33. UAB
33. Rutgers
35. Ohio State
36. Wisconsin
37. Coastal Carolina
38. Vanderbilt
39. Wisconsin-Milwaukee
40. Kentucky

-- UVa --