BELLEVUE, Neb. -- The Bellevue University men's soccer team, under head coach Mark Heath-Preston, announced today the signing of three local players to letters of intent. Alex Gomez (Omaha South HS), Ricky Reyes (Burke HS), and Juvenal Jacinto (Omaha South HS) have signed with the Bruins to continue their academic and athletic careers at Bellevue beginning in the fall of 2017.
Gomez is the son of Sergio and Tina Gomez and played under Joe Mass at Omaha South High School where he won two state high school championships (2013 & 2016) as well as making the all-state team and all-metro team the same year in '16. Gomez played club soccer at NFC where he was coached by Paul Harvey and Ryan Plummer.
Coach Heath-Preston said of him, "Alex is a great lad who has an infectious personality. He will provide more strength and depth to our squad - He has won two state titles so we know he has the mentality to push himself and the team to conquer successes."
Reyes is the son of Teodon Isabel and played under Nicholas Bratt at Burke High School. Ricky totaled 11 goals and 9 assists in his senior year and is comfortable in any midfield or forward position. Reyes played club ball at NFC under the guidance of Coach Lopez where he captained the team to two state championships.
Coach Bratt said of him 'Ricky is a tremendous talent and very versatile. He can play both in the middle of the park as well as up top and can be lethal at both. Ricky has great vision and has an intelligent approach to his game. Off the field, Ricky is just as capable. He took several high level classes at Burke while maintaining above a 3.0 GPA and scored well on his ACT. Bellevue has a great reputation as both an academic institution as well as a great place to play soccer at the next level. I am excited to watch Ricky continue his career. We will truly miss Ricky in our program, but he is a great addition to Bellevue University!'
Jacinto is the son of Juvenal and Maria Jacinto and played under Joe Mass at Omaha South High School where he totaled 19 goals and 7 assists throughout his high school career winning one state championship in 2016. In his club soccer playing seasons he played at OFC under Ryan Kruse which saw him and the team win three state titles 14' 15' 16'.
Heath-Preston said of him 'It's great to have signed another local player that can help us push forward as a program. I'm really excited to see Juvenal grow and develop in the next four years both on and off the field - He has played as a winger through his career but he has the soccer IQ to play anywhere'.
Gomez, Reyes, and Jacinto join earlier signees Andy Wilkinson (Lincoln, England), Harry Wray (Darlington, England), Toby Millward (Heacham, England), Yago Ramos (Santa Cecilia, Brazil), Jack Finocchiaro (Omaha, Neb.), and Gerson Joya (Lincoln, Neb.) in the Bruins' 2017 recruiting class.
Last season the Bruins posted an overall record of 12-6-2 (4-0-0) on their way to capturing both the North Star Regular-Season and Tournament Championships. It was the fourth-straight season that BU won a conference tournament championship and third-straight in which they claimed the regular-season title.
