Four players added to Butler men’s soccer 2016 roster

(Via Butler University) – Head coach Paul Snape has rounded out the 2016 Butler men’s soccer roster with the addition of four talented newcomers. The quartet will arrive in Indianapolis in the coming weeks in preparation for the 2016 season.

Isaac Galliford, Lewis Suddick, Maurice Thompson III, and Braden Van Allen set the roster at 29 players for the upcoming season.

“The entire coaching staff has been working really hard these past few months to bring in these magnificent young student-athletes,” said Snape, who enters his sixth season on the Butler sidelines. “The addition of these four players will make us even more dynamic, versatile, and tactically astute. Each player will provide us with their own unique set of skills and worldly experiences, which will definitely make us stronger as a program. Just as importantly is that they all possess great character who will live and breathe the Butler Way!”

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Galliford excelled for Luton Town FC in England, making his First Team debut at the age of 15. He attended Lealands High School in Luton.

Suddick arrives in Indianapolis from Newcastle upon Tyne in England. He has played with Newcastle United FC since the age of eight, making his First Team debut in 2015. Suddick attended Whitley Bay High School.

Thompson hails from Lilburn, Ga., where he led his Parkview High School team to the Georgia 6A state championship in 2016. The three-year varsity starter earned All-State, All-Region and All-County honors in 2016. In addition to his prep career, he played for Concorde Fire DA and was selected to the ODP Region Team.

Van Allen returns to the state of Indiana after starring at Evansville North High School, where he earned First-Team All-State honors. He was also a standout for the Evansville Soccer Club. He arrives at Butler as a transfer from VCU.

The four newcomers join Lukas Dawley, Nathan Edmunds, Christian Kotila, Alex Lehtinen, Ethan Mason, Wyatt Scott, and Derek Sutton, who were previously announced.

The Bulldogs return seven starters from the 2015 team that concluded the season with a 10-4-4 record and third place finish in the BIG EAST, while being one of the nation’s last unbeaten teams. All three of Butler’s exhibitions in 2016 are at the Butler Bowl, which is in the process of having new turf installed. The first exhibition is August 14 against the Indy Eleven of the NASL. The regular season opener is August 26 at Louisville before IUPUI visits the Butler Bowl August 30 in the regular season home opener.