CHEYENNE, WY – The Laramie County Community College men’s soccer team has been busy in the recruiting season and seven new faces are set to join the Golden Eagles this fall so far.
Six of the new members of the team join the roster from Colorado, including a trio from Longmont, Colorado.
Josh Rodriguez is a forward who spent his time with Niwot High School where he was a key member of two teams who made deep runs into the postseason in Colorado’s 4A level, including quarterfinal appearances in 2022 and 2023.
In two seasons on the varsity roster with the Cougars, Rodriguez tallied 15 goals and 17 assists for 47 total points. He also was named a CHSAA All-State Honorable Mention after his 2024 campaign.
Also joining from Niwot is Usiel Franco Cruz who was a three-year letter winner for the Cougars on the defensive side of the ball. While on the defensive side of the ball, Cruz was also able to make an offensive impact with four goals in his final two seasons to go with a pair of assists. Twice he was named to the All-State team, earning Honorable Mention in 2022 and was a second team selection in 2023.
A third player from Longmont is Luis Ramirez, who spent his high school career at Skyline High School where the midfielder played in 30 games over two seasons, scoring seven goals and helping out with five assists.
As a senior, Ramirez helped the Falcons to the quarterfinals of the state tournament where they fell to Niwot and fell in the same round his junior year to eventual state champion Northfield in penalty kicks.
Both Cruz and Ramirez also played for Real Colorado for their club team.
Moving south, LCCC added a pair of players from the Boulder County United club team in Demitri Wiegand and Vincent Renton.
Wiegand spent his senior season with Centaurus High School where he finished the season with seven goals and six assists as a defender and was able to shine on that side of the ball with 43 steals to his credit. The Warriors made it to the semifinals of the 4A State Championships and Wiegand picked up First Team All-State honors with his standout season.
Renton was also a member of the Centaurus roster, playing for the Warriors both his junior and senior years on the varsity picking up 74 steals on the defensive side of the ball as a senior. He also added three goals and two assists during those two seasons and was named to the All-State Second Team in the Fall 2023 campaign.
The final signee for Golden Eagles comes from Aurora, Colorado where he was a four-year varsity player for Hinkley High School playing both defense and midfield for the Thunderbirds.
He appeared in 47 games during his high school career, netting four varsity goals and seven assists, including a career high five as a sophomore. He was named a CHSAA All-State Honorable Mention at the 5A level during his junior season.
One more new signee for the Golden Eagles makes his way to the roster from Kansas City, Kansas. Darrien Gates II was a member of the KC Legends club team and played his high school soccer for Sumner Academy where he stared for the Sabres, scoring 19 goals as a senior and 27 goals in his two seasons. He also pitched in with six assists and helped the team to 29 wins over the course of two seasons. This included two trips to the second round of the 5A Kansas State Tournament which helped him earn Second Team All State both years.
The Golden Eagles are set to report to campus the first week of August and the annual Alumni Scrimmage is scheduled for August 10th at 1:00 pm or immediately after the women’s scrimmage at 11:00 am.
More information about the alumni scrimmage can be found on LCCC Golden Eagle Athletics on Facebook, and on www.golccc.com.