After first-year NIU men’s soccer coach Steve Simmons arrived last fall, six players quit. Now, NIU welcomes eight new recruits.

“All the players that left had their reasons,” Simmons said. “Either they didn’t have the energy or they wanted to focus on their schoolwork.”

Five of Simmons’ recruits signed letters of intent on Feb. 18. Three others – two from Norway and one from Scotland – have verbally committed.

Willy Roy, Simmons’ predecessor, was known for his ability to recruit out of the country. Junior Bernhard Hagevik from Norway is the Roy’s last foreign recruit remaining on the team from his time as head coach.

Simmons can’t release the names of the players from Norwary or comment on them until they sign, according to NCAA rules.

“I was over there in January and met a lot of alumni from Norway,” Simmons said. “They were very eager to keep their bloodline in NIU.”

One NIU foreign recruit, Paul Gabel, hailing from Dunoon, Scotland, has played soccer in the U.S. for the past two years at Northern Oklahoma Junior College.

The college’s Institutional Publications Director Ted Atchley has covered the team for the past five years and said Gabel was an integral part of the team.

“Paul Gabel adds a fire on the field and is a very vocal player,” Atchley said.

During the past two years, Gabel was a defenseman for the Jets, which advanced to the national junior college final four.

Huskies’ goalkeeper Steve Goletz had a chance to meet Gabel when he visited NIU last fall and was impressed with his love for the game.

“It’s good when you can get someone with experience who can share their knowledge and views of the game,” Goletz said.

The five players Simmons signed are Illinois natives Steve Algozino, Trinidad Correa and Chris Rufa; Arizona’s Cody Russell; and Curt Zastrow from Wisconsin.

“These guys will come in shape and will be physically fit,” Simmons said. “We didn’t have any deep threats last year, and these guys coming in will be able to stretch the field.”

In the meantime, Simmons is getting his team in shape, putting them through the same physical fitness test the whole team failed last fall.

“You can’t cheat your way past this one,” Simmons said. “This gets your foot in the door, and it was very pleasing to see everyone pass this spring.”