Wisconsin Soccer Central

Andreas Davi continues to look locally as he builds the Milwaukee Torrent's roster for their inaugural season in the American Soccer League.

The new professional team has announced a quartet of signings over the past week, all of whom were part of UW-Milwaukee's senior class last fall: forward Aaron Horvat (Waukesha Catholic Memorial), center back Dustin Ashley (Racine Horlick), left back Zach Stevenson and midfielder Declan Rodriguez.

"So far, I am pretty happy with how the recruiting is going, position-wise," said Davi, whose team now has 11 players under contract for the 2016 season. Five of those players are former UW-Milwaukee athletes; midfielder Luke Goodnetter (Brookfield East), who wrapped up his college career in fall 2014, signed with the team in August.

Davi is quite familiar with Horvat and Ashley.

Horvat, who played in four WIAA Division 2 state finals during his high school career, played club soccer with Bavarian SC and was one of seven players from the club who traveled to Germany with Davi in 2011 – he was invited back to train with the youth academy at Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen later in the year.

Then in 2013, Horvat played for Davi with the Bavarians' team in the National Premier Soccer League. Horvat finished with eight goals and seven assists in 61 appearances (42 starts) for the Panthers.

"It's like a circle that closes with him," said Davi, who projects Horvat as a central striker. "He had, I think, a great career in college, and I know what I have with him. I know I have a hard-working kid, I know I have a kid from the area to support the homegrown program that I want to do, and I know I will get the best out of him."

Ashley started his college career at NCAA Division II UW-Parkside, playing every minute for the Rangers in 2011, before transferring to Milwaukee.

He appeared in 39 matches (32 starts) for the Panthers and played in the USL Premier Development League each of the past three years – with the Chicago Inferno in 2013 and with Mississippi Brilla FC in 2014 and '15, wearing the captain's armband last summer.

"He's a leader, experienced ... He just does what you tell him to do," Davi said of Ashley, who played for the Bavarians' NPSL team in 2012 and also coached at North Shore Arsenal last year when Davi was the club's director of coaching. "There's a reason why he was a captain with the PDL team and at UWM."

Stevenson saw time both on the backline and in the attack with the Panthers. A native of Westfield, Ind., he had three goals and four assists in 59 games (33 starts) – he had two goals this season, both in a 2-0 win over Western Illinois on Oct. 27.

"He's exactly the type of player I like for my left or right back, like (right back) Stuart Grable," Davi said. "Players who have the offensive qualities that they can move forward and help us in the attack as well as knowing what they need to do when we lose the ball. He's not just a left back, he has offensive qualities."

Rodriguez finished his college career with 13 goals and four assists in 71 appearances (70 starts), and twice was named to the All-Horizon League second team. He had a team-high six goals in 17 matches this fall and added two assists.

"Through the years, he's played every position almost except goalie, I think. He can play center back, he can play holding midfield, he can be on the wing," Davi said. "I think he was his best when he played with Luke Goodnetter as holding midfielder. It's great to have a guy like him who is so versatile. ... It's always good to have two or three guys on the roster that you can put wherever and they'll play their hearts out."

• The Torrent have an agreement to play a friendly against UW-Green Bay next spring during the Phoenix's exhibition season, Davi said. They also have deals in place for similar matches against Marquette and the University of Wisconsin.
• The team's second tryout is Thursday, with 24 players seeking to earn spots on the roster – 18 of them were called back after the first tryout. Davi said he would like to carry a 20-player roster, with 18 field players and two goalkeepers.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this article indicated that Thursday's tryout is an open tryout. However, the tryout is by invitation only. Wisconsin Soccer Central regrets the mistake.