UCSB has added an experienced international player and a JC All-American to its 2013 men’s soccer recruiting class.
Paul Ehmann will join the Gauchos after playing in the Under-19 Bundesliga in Germany. The defender has been a member of the U16 and U18 German national teams and plays for the club TSG 1899 Hoffenheim.
The other recruit is Argentine-born Gonzalo Gelso, who earned All-American honors at Barton Community College in Great Bend, Kan. Gelso, who was raised in Florida, is a midfielder.
“Gonzalo brings a physicality and toughness to our midfield without sacrificing skill or possession,” UCSB coach Tim Vom Steeg says. “This is a rare combination and a component that we have been missing in the past couple of years out of our midfield play.”
On Ehmann, Vom Steeg said the German brings an “ability and maturity level to the program that will not only pay immediate benefits next year but will be somebody that we can build around for the next four years.”
Ehmann can play as center back and a holding midfielder. He chose UCSB over Pac-12 and ACC schools.
