HARTSVILLE, S.C. – The Coker College men’s soccer program has added nine more players for the upcoming 2010 season according to head coach Paul Leese. Along with the nine players Leese signed in the spring, the Cobras will have 18 new faces that will take the field to defend the 2009 Conference Carolinas Tournament Championship in September.

“I am very excited to get this team together and see what we can do,” said Leese. “It is going to be a challenge to bring this team together in such a short time, but I feel the team will be up to it. I know we can build off the success of last season and I feel confident we have a chance to be a real contender within the conference.”

This latest crop of incoming players include eight freshman and one junior, with three international players, four more from Florida, one from Virginia and one from Texas.

A pair of Canadian players highlights this group of players with C.J. Telford and Akeem Prendes coming from Ontario, Canada. Telford is a standout forward from Oakville, Ontario, where he played for Iroquois Ridge, while Prendes is a defender from Brampton, Ontario, a product of Bramalea.

The third international player comes from across the Atlantic; Alex Bracken is a forward from Leeds, England.

Coming to Hartsville by way of Florida are Jordan Snell, Ryan Beal, Brandon Loafman and Mike LaGreca.  Snell, Loafman and Beal are all natives of Palm Bay, Fla., but all three attended different high schools. Snell and Loafman are both standout defenders from Melbourne and Bayside High School respectively, while Beal is a goalkeeper from Satellite High.

Mark Nankervis is a native of Virginia Beach, Va., where he was the goalkeeper at Cox High School and finally, junior transfer Carlos Recinos is a forward from Houston, Texas. Recinos is transferring from San Jacinto Community College. 

The Cobras begin their 2010 season on Thursday, Sept. 2 when they taken on cross-town rival Francis Marion University. The game will be played at 5:00 p.m. at Francis Marion. Last season the Cobras and the Patriots played to a 1-1 tie in their one meeting of the season.