May 18, 2006
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State men's soccer coach Lev Kirshner today announced the signing of local standout Daniel Ortega to a National Letter of Intent for the 2006 season. The highly honored 5-10 forward from Chula Vista attends Eastlake High School and plays for Arsenal Soccer Club in Alta Loma.
While at Eastlake, he was named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-America team in both 2004 and 2005.
In addition, Ortega was a U.S. Youth National Team pool player from 2002-2005 and a member of the U.S. Under-17 National Team residency Program in 2005. He was also a participant in the adidas Elite Soccer Program (ESP) in 2004 and 2005, and was named to the ESP all-star squad last year.
"With the emphasis we've put on keeping our top local players in San Diego, it's a great reward to have Daniel Ortega come to San Diego State," commented Kirshner. "Danny is a gifted striker whose commitment and abilities immediately strengthen our attack and solidify an already outstanding recruiting class.
"We feel this class already has the top defender in San Diego (Santo Pernicano, El Capitan HS), and now with Danny coming to SDSU, the top attacker in the county will be an Aztec as well."
San Diego will return eight starters from last fall's squad which finished with a 9-4-6 record and a fourth-place finish in the Pac-10 while advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1989.