A new class of college soccer players from the Philadelphia Union Academy ranks was confirmed on Wednesday, with eleven players inking official commitments to play college soccer.
Most of the eleven players had previously committed verbally so there weren't many shake-ups on Signing Day, but forward Sebastian Elney was not among those listed. The Florida native, who has been in Mexico with teammate Sean Wilson for the Copa Chivas Tournament, is verbally committed to Maryland.
Unfortunately have to wait until I'm back in the states to sign, but congrats to all other student-athletes signing today!
— $eba (@Sebastian_Elney) February 4, 2015
Midfielder Derrick Amaniampong, who is training with the senior team in Clearwater, also wasn't on the list of signees despite a previous verbal commitment to Rhode Island.
Defender William Campbell will be joining Academy alumnus Colton Storm at North Carolina in the fall and midfielder Morgan Hackworth, son of former Union head coach John Hackworth, signed on at ACC rivals Syracuse.
Our 1st signee is Morgan Hackworth from Wallingford PA. An intelligent, cultured mf player who has captained the Philadelphia Union academy.
— Ian McIntyre (@ismcinty) February 4, 2015
Former Union Academy player Chris Gomez, a defender who returned to Players Development Academy after spending a season playing for the U, also signed on with Syracuse. The only other big conference signees were defender Zach Perez, who is joining Rutgers in the Big 10, and midfielder Zach Zandi is staying local and will attend Villanova in the always competitive Big East.
Twin brothers Cameron Keys and Garrett Keys, who both signed with La Salle, are also staying local and John Schroeder is heading to nearby University of Delaware.
Nick Jachwak and Brandon Levano will be teammates again at Loyola in Maryland, Kevin Carvalho has signed on with Northeastern and Everett Minchew signed on with Northeast Conference team Wagner College.
The new class of college-bound seniors will join the nearly 40 Union Academy alums already playing at Division 1 programs.