DEKALB, Ill. -- NIU men's soccer head coach Eric Luzzi announced the remaining eight members of the 2015 Huskie recruiting class on Thursday. Adrian Coardos (Evanston, Ill./Niles North), Artur Kielar (Chicago, Ill./Lane Tech), Giovanni Pacheco (Pasadena, Texas/Pasadena), Jerome Roche (Salon-De-Provence, France/Gardner-Webb), Kevin Rodriguez (Pasadena, Texas/Deer Park), Amit Tal (Highland Park, Ill./Highland Park), Max Voss (Huls, Germany/Staedtisches Gymnasium Herten) and Nicolas Wandl (Tulln, Austria/University of Vienna) join NIU's previously-announced six signees for this fall's incoming class.

"I am very excited to finally announce the rest of our incoming class," said Luzzi. "A ton of work has gone into identifying, recruiting and signing these players over the last few months. Special mention needs to go to Garrett Biller, our associate head coach and recruiting coordinator, for his great work in bringing these new student-athletes to NIU. We are excited to add them to our team and I know that each one of these guys will add a lot to NIU Soccer.

"We announced a class of six players on signing day in February but we wanted to address a few additional things with the rest of our recruiting class. First, we felt that we really needed to have a bigger roster this year. We felt it would be important to have a bit more internal competition for places within our team. Secondly, we wanted to continue to add some players with outstanding athletic tools to our team. I feel really good that we have accomplished both of these goals by adding these eight players to our recruiting class for this fall."

An all-conference and all-area honoree at Niles North High School, Adrian Coardos played club soccer with Team Evanston Premier. He also trialed with Fulham Football Club in London, England. In addition to soccer, Coardos is an accomplished track athlete and finished sixth in the triple jump at the Illinois sectional meet this past spring.

"Adrian is a kid that attended our Elite Camp last summer, and really impressed us with his relentless energy, pace and work ethic.  He also has a good knack for finishing his chances, which is always a great trait to have.  I think Adrian could play in multiple attacking positions for us, and that versatility is always a good thing.  He is a local kid from Chicago, and he will be a great fit for our team this fall."

A two-year varsity letterwinner at Lane Tech High School, Artur Kielar earned first team all-conference and Illinois High School Soccer Coaches Association (IHSSCA) All-State honors as a senior. Kielar helped the Indians to 36 wins and two conference titles in the last two seasons. Kielar played club soccer with Raiders FC.

"Artur has a very good soccer IQ and sees the game very well," said Luzzi. "I think his best role is as a number 10 (attacking midfielder), but he could probably also do a job for us on the wing.  Once Artur gets used to the speed of play at the Division I level, I think he will be a very good player for us."

A member of the Houston Dynamo Academy, Giovanni Pacheco appeared in 28 matches this past season for the Dynamo U18 team, making 21 starts with seven goals when helping the Dynamo to the Development Academy quarterfinals. Pacheco has played with the Dynamo's academy teams since 2011.

"Giovanni is the third player that we picked up from the Houston Dynamo academy team, which is a very well respected Development Academy team with a track record of success," said Luzzi. "He has pretty consistently been better and better each time we have seen him play, and he was outstanding at the recent U.S. Soccer Development Academy playoffs last month. Gio is a player that has the ability add a lot to our attack and I can't wait to get him on campus in a few weeks to start working with him."

Another member of the Houston Dynamo Academy, Kevin Rodriguez played in 25 matches, making 13 starts, for the Dynamo U18 team. Rodriguez played just one season with the Dynamo and played three years of high school soccer at Deer Park High, where he scored 48 goals in three seasons. Rodriguez earned first team all-district honors at Deer Park as both a sophomore and junior.

"Kevin is the fourth player that we are bringing in from the Houston Dynamo Academy and I am very excited to see how he develops in our program," said Luzzi. "We watched him change the game every time he was on the field at the U.S. Soccer Development Academy playoffs last month. He is an exciting player who will be a handful for opposing teams to try to contain."

Pacheco and Rodriguez join Noe Ochoa (Pasadena, Texas/Pasadena Memorial) and Nixon Urrutia (Houston, Texas/Dobie) as NIU's four signees this season from the Houston Dynamo Academy.

Jerome Roche joins NIU following one season at Gardner-Webb. As a freshman with the Bulldogs, Roche appeared in 17 games, including 15 starts, and scored one goal. A native of France, Roche played club soccer with FC Istres, appearing for their U15, U17 and U19 teams. Roche earned all-region honors in 2013 and 2014 and was also a member of the 2011 Provence championship team.

"Jerome comes to us as a transfer student after a year at Gardner-Webb, so he already understands the speed of play and the rigors of playing at the Division I level," said Luzzi. "Jerome is extremely quick and sees the game very well. I could see him playing as an outside back or as a winger and I assume that he will be competing for time with us from the beginning of the season."

A member of the Chicago Magic PSG Academy, Amit Tal, appeared in 18 matches, making 10 starts, with the Magic U18 team this past season. Tal helped the Magic reach the Development Academy Playoffs in 2015 and also helped the Magic U16 team to a third-place finish in the Development Academy in 2014, playing in 26 matches, including 18 starts.

"Amit also plays on one of the best club teams in the country with the Chicago Magic Academy," said Luzzi. "He is another player who brings a lot of versatility and I could see him playing left back or left wing at various points of his career here at NIU. He is very clean on the ball and has a fantastic change of gear athletically. I am excited to see how Amit can add to our team when we get together in a couple weeks for the beginning of preseason."

A native of Huls, Germany, Max Voss has spent time in the academies at Rot-Weiss Essen and VfL Bochum. In 2013, Voss helped Bochum to a fourth-place finish in the German U17 Bundesliga while this past year, playing for VfB Huls, Voss helped the team earn sixth in the U19 Westfalenliga.

"Max is an extremely talented footballer and will bring lots of experience to this incoming class," said Luzzi. "He is a very technical player who understands the game at a very high level. His positioning and understanding of how to play as a central midfielder is outstanding. He is a guy that we certainly expect to do very good things for us throughout his career at NIU."

A native of Tulln, Austria, Nicolas Wandl played for Union Sport Club Grafanworth in his home country. He also spent time with Rapid Vienna and the Football Academy of St. Poelten.

"Nicolas comes to us after having attended university in Austria," said Luzzi. "He will bring a level of maturity on the field which is always a benefit to any team. Nicolas will also bring a different element of tactical intelligence to our attack, which I think will be very important to our team's success this year."

The Huskies report for preseason on Tuesday, Aug. 11 and will host Wisconsin in the first exhibition game of the season on Sunday, Aug. 16 at noon. NIU opens the 2015 regular season on Friday, Aug. 28, when it hosts Green Bay at 7 p.m.