Orange Park star joins Saints

By Devon Jeffreys | djeffreys@flagler.edu

Flagler soccer coach John Lynch didn’t even have to leave the area to find his top recruit for 2008 and beyond.

Lynch signed Orange Park high school’s William Frandsen last week, filling a major need at the center/midfielder position.

“He’s very athletic,” Lynch said. “Will was at the top of my list. I needed a very athletic center/midfielder who could also defend and I think in Will, we got that. He’s going to be hard to keep off the field.”

Frandsen finished his senior year at Orange Park with 13 goals and Lynch said that he has the versatility to do a number of things including score goals for the Saints. Frandsen was named to the All-Conference team in the St. Johns River Athletic Conference, which Orange Park won this season.

Frandsen’s decision came down to Flagler and the University of Central Florida. Yet even UCF’s status as a NCAA Div. I school couldn’t keep Frandsen from signing with Flagler.

“My big issue was either going to a smaller school like Flagler or a bigger one,” Frandsen said. “After visiting both, I just felt like Flagler would be better for me and fit my needs.”

Frandsen said that his trip to UCF was not what he expected, and that left him leaning more towards Flagler. He also said that playing for Lynch was a big factor in his choice.

“That’s probably one of the big reasons I chose to go down there,” Frandsen said. “If he weren’t down there I’m not sure I would be going there.”

Still Frandsen took as much time as possible to make the right decision for him.

“I waited as long as I could, it was a huge decision on my part,” he said.

Lynch found Frandsen through former Flagler assistant and current Orange Park coach Paul Tomaro.
“I probably watched six or seven of their high school games this year,” Lynch said. “I showed plenty of interest and got to see him play very often.”

Frandsen joins a Saints team coming off a disappointing 2-13-2 record but is confident that he can make an impact and help turn things around.

“Talking to coach Lynch, there’s a pretty strong recruiting class coming in and I think we can turn it around pretty well,” Frandsen said.

Lynch’s other signees include midfielder Brad Callahan, center/forwards Brad Vinciguerra and Cameron Will, right side defender Houston Lillo and Irishman Daniel Reid. Lynch is still searching for a goal scorer and a goalkeeper to replace Josiah Holtz, who left Flagler for a mission trip.

“Coming off the season that we had, I don’t think we were a bad team but we had a bad record,” Lynch said. “I probably worked harder in this year’s recruiting than I have in the previous nine at Flagler.”