Loading ...IU soccer signs two early
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by Jeremy Price | Sunday, December 30, 2012 - 10:48 am UTC
The official release came out yesterday, but the national champion IU soccer team has signed two early enrollees for the spring semester in Indianapolis’ Michael Galullo and California’s Tanner Thompson, the son of former Hoosier Greg Thompson. Tanner’s younger brother, Tommy, is slated to graduate high school a year early and also join the 2013 recruiting class.
And according to a report from SoccerByIves.com, Indiana also stands to be adding Louisville transfer Dylan Mares, a former high school teammate of A.J. Corrado and Harrison Petts to the midfield. Nothing official announced yet. Here’s the release on the signees:
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana University head men’s soccer coach Todd Yeagley announced today that Michael Galullo (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central) and Tanner Thompson (Loomis, Calif./Granite Bay) will join the program for the 2013 spring semester.
Both Galullo and Thompson graduated from high school a semester early in order to join the Hoosiers for the spring season.
Galullo was a midfielder for North Central, a school that has produced several Hoosier players including most recently junior midfielder Nikita Kotlov. Galullo was a first-team All-State selection and named the 2012 Indiana Soccer Player of the Year and a National Soccer Coaches Association of America All-American. A two-time All-District honoree (second team-junior; first team-senior), Galullo was the Indianapolis Star Super Team Player of the Year and selected to participate in the 2012 High School Soccer All-American game, held Dec. 8 in Hoover, Ala.
“Michael joins a distinguished list of North Central products who have helped build our tradition of excellence here at IU,” Yeagley said. “Michael is an extremely athletic player who can unbalance defenders with his pace and creative abilities. We see a tremendous upside for Michael. He brings versatility and a great work rate to our team. Michael will be a great addition to our squad and we expect Michael to have a bright future here at IU.”
Galullo helped lead the Panthers to the 2011 sectional championship and the regional final. The team also won Great Midwest Classic titles his freshman and sophomore seasons, with Galullo scoring the game-winning penalty kick for the title in 2009.
Thompson has Hoosier soccer in his blood, as he is the son of IU Hall of Fame inductee Gregg Thompson. The elder Thompson was co-captain of Indiana’s first NCAA title team in 1982, scoring both goals in a 2-1, eight-overtime win over Duke. His cousin, Bobby De St. Aubin, also played for the Hoosiers and was part of the 2000 and 2001 College Cup teams. His older brother Tyler Thompson just finished his freshman season at Stanford.
“Tanner is one of the finest midfielders in the nation,” Yeagley said. “His soccer IQ is high end. Tanner’s ability to beat players off the dribble and with the pass are some of his finer qualities. We expect Tanner to make an immediate impact within our team. His father, Gregg Thompson, was one of our all-time greatest players and we are excited to have Tanner build upon his father’s legacy.”
A midfielder, Tanner was the 2011 Sierra Foothill League MVP after helping the Grizzlies to the league title. He holds the Granite Bay record for assists in a season with 21. As a sophomore Thompson led the Grizzlies to the 2010 Sac-Joaquin sectional championship and finished the season with eight goals and 12 assists. In his four seasons at Granite Bay, the Grizzlies lost just one league match.
Good news for Men’s Soccer. Now let’s get a 9th star!