Drexel men’s soccer announces six-man recruiting class

Mordechay comes to University City after most recently playing with Maccabi Netanya in the first tier of Ligat ha’Al in Israel. Before joining Maccabi Netanya, Mordechay was an Israeli League Champion and top scorer with Maccabi Haifa while also serving as team captain. He also played in the prestigious UEFA Youth League. Mordechay has represented the Israeli Youth National team on 18 occasions, scoring nine goals, including in the 2018 Euro U17 Championships.

Senden comes to Drexel after previously attending Sintermeerten College. Senden has played for Roda JC (NL) since 2019, starting and captaining the U21 side. In 2020, Senden made his first-team debut in the preseason match against FC Eindhoven. A product of the renowned KRC Genk Youth program, Senden competed with Genk at many of Europe’s prestigious youth tournaments, including the Marveld Tournament (NL) and the Geneva Cup (CH). While competing in those tournaments, he faced elite youth sides such as Benfica, PSV, Benfica, Manchester United, & Barcelona. In 2018, with KRC Genk U17, Senden won the famed Puskás Cup (HU), overcoming opponents such as Bayern Munich, Sporting CP, Real Madrid, and Flamengo.

Lizyness is a transfer from the University of Central Florida. He earned an AAC All-Rookie Team 2020-21 nod while also being named in Topdrawersoccer’s Top 100 freshman list in his time with the Knights. Representing UCF, Andrew is a two-time American Athletic Conference regular-season champion and 2021 AAC tournament champion. Before UCF, Andrew attended Olympia High school in his hometown of Windermere, Fla., where he led his team to the 2016 and 2018 district championships, earning All-Metro and All-State accolades. Before playing with the Portland Timbers Academy, Andrew won the 2016 Florida Cup and 2017 State Cup with ACYS Spirit United. 

Nesseler joins the Dragons as a transfer from the German Sport University. Nesseler made 26 appearances for the German Youth National Team, including the 2015 U17 European Championships (finalist) and the 2015 World Cup in Chile, where Germany reached the round of 16. Daniel made 83 appearances for Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the Youth Bundesliga, earning 2 DFB Länderpokal finalist medals and one championship. At the U19 level, Daniel made 11 appearances in the prestigious UEFA Youth League with Bayer 04, serving as captain for six matches, playing alongside current Chelsea FC forward and 2021 UEFA Champions League winner, Kai Havertz.

Smith is a transfer who started in 13 games for Bucknell University. Of those 13 games, Smith completed five clean shutouts, including three straight against Boston U, Army and Lafayette. Smith made 35 saves in total, including his career-high five shots at Colgate (9/21) and at Navy (10/6). A great local talent, Smith played club soccer at Lower Merion SC alongside fellow Dragons Chris Donovan and Michael McCarthy at Conestoga High School.

Arzi is a product and captain of Maccabi Petah Tikva. He made 28 appearances for the Israeli Youth National Teams (U16-U19), including an appearance in the UEFA EURO U19 Championship Qualifiers in 2018. The Israel native played in the UEFA Youth Champions League with Maccabi Petah Tikva while also winning an Israeli National Championship. As a freshman at Makif Yehud High School, Arzi won the national Futsal Championship.