LOUISIANA La. - The 2004 recruiting class for Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns women's soccer program has been ranked among the Top 25 best in the Central Region by Soccer Buzz Magazine.

Soccer Buzz Magazine has the Cajuns ranked 24th out of 69 teams in the Central Region rankings in its annual listing of recruiting classes of Division I women's soccer.

Louisiana-Lafayette was listed above Tulane, Arkansas and Sun Belt Conference rival North Texas.

The Cajuns corps of newcomers was considered the second-best in the Sun Belt Conference. Only Denver (7th in Central Region) was ranked higher. Western Kentucky's recruiting class was 27th in the Great Lakes Region.

Head coach Dave Poggi will be adding 16 new members to his squad that finished 6-13-1 overall in the 2003 season as the Cajuns search for the program's first-ever winning record.

"This year's recruiting really began last year and is a credit to my staff and the players who have come before and gave us something to recruit to," Poggi said. "Throughout the process we felt we had a terrific group of athletes that had decided to come to the University of Louisiana.

"It's exciting to see a nationally recognized publication realize the potential of this group too," Poggi added. "We expect our newcomers to have an impact on our program immediately."

The ranking by Soccer Buzz Magazine marked the first such honor in the five-year history of the program.

The Ragin' Cajuns kick off the fifth season in program history with a pre-season match against University of Mobile Tuesday, Aug. 17 at 6 p.m. in Mobile. The first home match is slated for Friday, Sept. 10 at 7 p.m. against Louisiana Tech in the McAlister's Deli South Louisiana Soccer
Shootout.

LOUISIANA SI