YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. | Former Young Harris College men's soccer player
Paco Craig has signed to play professionally with the Louisville City FC.
Louisville City FC is located in Louisville, Kentucky, and are members of the United Soccer League's Eastern Conference. Louisville City joined the USL in 2014 and will open their 2016 campaign March 26 at the Charlotte Independence in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Craig is the sixth former YHC men's soccer player to sign a professional contract. Niall McCabe and Ilija Ilic signed last spring with the Louisville City while
Lewis Hilton signed last month with the Charlotte Independence. Samuel Mansour and Khurram Shazad signed to play for the WSG Swarovski Wattens in Austria in 2015.
"I am delighted to see Paco sign with Louisville City FC," said Young Harris head coach
Mark McKeever. "He will now join two former players Niall McCabe and Ilija Ilic at Louisville City. Paco is now the sixth player to turn pro from our last three seasons so he is continuing a remarkable trend that has been set. I am confident Paco will excel in the professional level as he is a versatile lad. I am sad to see him go, but he leaves behind a fantastic standard for other players to step up and match. I wish Paco the very best of luck in his professional football career."
Craig, a 6-foot-2 defender from London, England, was named to the NSCAA All-America team for the third consecutive year in 2015. Craig became only the second Peach Belt Conference player to ever win the PBC Freshman of the Year and Player of the Year awards during their career. The 2013 PBC Freshman of the Year and 2015 PBC Player of the Year, the center back tied for sixth in the league in goals (six), seventh in points (17), and ninth in assists (five) this past season. He was also a leader on a defense that led the Peach Belt with seven shutouts and finished second in the league with 22 goals allowed and a 1.04 goals-against average. In three seasons, Craig scored 17 goals, assisted on 14 others for 48 points in 57 career matches. Craig is currently fifth on the all-time YHC lists (NCAA era) in goals and points, and sixth in assists.
The Mountain Lions finished the 2015 season with a 17-4-0 record and was ranked 10th in the NSCAA NCAA Division II Top 25 poll. Young Harris won their third consecutive PBC title and second straight PBC Tournament crown last fall. Young Harris also earned its second berth in the NCAA Division II Tournament in 2015 - earning the No. 2 seed out of the Southeast Region – and advancing to the third round.
