Rochester, Mich. (Feb. 21, 2006) ???C Thirteen new soccer players will be appearing on the pitch for Oakland men???s soccer in 2006 as head coach Gary Parsons announced the addition of 10 freshmen and three transfers to next year???s Golden Grizzly squad, two of which are already enrolled at Oakland and practicing with the Black and Gold this spring. Three players from Trinidad, Keston Henry (Port of Spain, Trinidad), Makesi Lewis (Diego Martin, Trinidad) and Stefan St. Louis (Chaguanas, Trinidad), have all signed National Letters of Intent to play for Oakland in 2006. ???Makesi and Stefan are both excellent technical players with good athleticism that we think can step in and help immediately,??? Parsons said of the two forwards. ???Keston is a creative midfielder with good vision and skill and he???s a very good play-maker.??? Two more athletes have signed NLIs as part of OU???s 2006 recruiting class ???C Brennan Rees (Allen Park, Mich.) and Lew Tripp (Whitmore Lake, Mich.). Rees was a four-year letterwinner for Inter-City Baptist H.S. in both soccer and basketball, leading the Chargers to a state soccer championship this past fall. Rees is a three-time all-league honoree and a two-time all district, all-region and all-state selection. He was also unanimously voted the league???s MVP during his junior campaign. Rees has additionally served as his class president over the last two years. Tripp makes his way to Oakland after spending the last two seasons at Schoolcraft College where he was named a first team all-region selection in 2005. A graduate of Plymouth Christian Academy, Tripp lettered in basketball as well as soccer. As a defender, he was honored as a two-time all-conference, all-district and all-state athlete. Others who will join the Golden Grizzlies in 2006 are Ty Gehring (Sandy, Utah), Sebby Harris (Lake Orion, Mich.), Daniel Lopez (Buffalo Grave, Ill.), Bret Mollon (Washington, Mich.) Jake Munchiando (Troy, Mich.) and Chris Pruitt (Canton, Mich.). ???Ty is a good two-way center-mid, who has a good work rate and skill package,??? said Parsons. ???Sebby and Jake are also good athletes and could find playing time in the midfield. Danny will help us immediately in the defensive third of the field. He is versatile enough to play any of the positions in the backline and skillful enough to step into the defensive midfield position if necessary. Bret is an athletic goalkeeper that, with some development, can be great for us in the future, and Chris is a right-footed defender that we think can either push for a starting position or give us depth in the backline.??? In addition to soccer, Gehring wrestled for Juan Diego Catholic. He also led his summer soccer team to a state championship five times. Harris lettered all four years at Lake Orion, serving as a team captain during his senior season. The midfielder twice earned all-district and all-league accolades as well as being named all-region and all-state second team in his final season. Harris played summer ball for the Vardar Stars, ranked fourth in the nation. A three-time all-conference selection, Lopez earned all-state as well as all-midwest honors as a senior. He tallied 34 goals and 24 assists in three years for his varsity team at Adlai Stevenson H.S. Mollon was a four-year letterwinner for Notre Dame Prep, also playing two years of basketball for the Fighting Irish. Among the many honors to his name, Mollon was a two-time all-state performer, leading his team to the district finals twice. The goaltender joined Harris on the Vardar club team and was twice on his school???s Honor Roll. Local product Jake Muchiando has several accolades to his credit, including all-state honorable mention during his senior campaign. He was also a captain for his TSC Inferno club team and is a member of his school???s National Honor Society. Pruitt, another Vardar all-star, was bumped up to varsity during his freshman year at Detroit Catholic Central and by his senior year was the team???s leading goal scorer with 15. He helped lead the Shamrocks to a district championship as a junior. Already with the team in spring training are Andy Kroll (Portage, Mich.) and Michael Reyes (Miami, Fla.). Kroll is a transfer from Marquette University who also played club ball for the Kalamazoo Kingdom of the Premier Development League. Reyes spent 2004 and ???05 at East Central College where he was a first team all-conference, all-region and a Missouri Junior College Invitational all-tournament selection in 2005. ???Kroll is already training with us and is doing well,??? Parsons said. ???He should push for a starting position next fall. Reyes is a very versatile player up front as well as at center-mid and center-back. He will also push for a starting spot in ???06.??? Oakland kicks off its 2006 season with the Oakland University/Michigan Challenge Aug. 25 and 27th, welcoming Coastal Carolina and St. John???s to Rochester for a pair of match-ups.