WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - Entering his fifth year at the helm of the Hawks, University of Hartford men's soccer coach Tom Poitras has announced the additions of Erik Ribeiro (West Hartford, Conn.) and Brian Richards (Clarendon, Jamaica) to the Hartford Hawks men's soccer program. Having already enrolled in classes, the duo are currently on campus and partaking in offseason workouts with the Hawks, who are coming off back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since the 1998 and 1999 campaigns.

A 5-10 midfielder from West Hartford, Conn., Ribeiro played four seasons of varsity soccer at Conard High School, where he helped the Chieftains amass the most wins in program history. The team's leading goal-scorer with 16 and a co-captain as a senior in 2014, he earned all-state accolades that season and was tabbed the squad's Most Valuable Player. Ribeiro was also a two-time all-conference honoree in his final two seasons at Conard.

"Erik is a very skillful midfielder, who has great vision and passing range," explained Poitras. "He is very composed on the ball and has a calm demeanor on the field. We are impressed by his motivation and drive to finish high school early and join us for the spring semester."

Richards, a 5-10 striker from Clarendon, Jamaica, transfers to Hartford from Dayton, where he spent two seasons following a three-year playing career at Excelsior High School. In his first season at Dayton, Richards started and played in just two games due to an injury, but tallied four goals during that stretch, including the golden goals in both of those contests. In 2014, he started in 15 of the 17 games he appeared in and finished fourth on the team in scoring with nine points on four goals and an assist. At Excelsior High School in Kingston, Richards was the leading scorer in the 2012 Manning Cup where he was the recipient of the Golden Boot Award.

"Brian is a very good attacking player," Poitras commented. "He is skillful and confident on the ball. Brian will use his skill and pace to go at defenders and cause problems for opposing teams. We are happy he has this spring to adjust to our program."

Despite losing four seniors - including two starters - to graduation, the Hawks bring back their top-three goal scorers in sophomores Udi Cohen and Jeff Tryon as well as junior Javoni Simms. The trio combined for 30 points on 10 goals and 10 assists as Simms took home his third-straight America East All-Conference First Team honor last season while Cohen garnered Second Team laurels. Senior midfielder Rohan Roye and junior defender Jhamie Hyde, both America East All-Conference First Team picks in 2014, will also come back for one final season in a Hartford uniform in 2015.

Also returning to the pitch for Poitras, who has piloted Hartford to three America East Championship title match appearances in his four seasons, is America East All-Conference Second Team goalkeeper David MacKinnon. With the help of backs Hyde, junior Blake Jones, and America East All-Rookie Team member Andre Morrison, MacKinnon and the Hawks' defense posted seven shutouts in 2014 while holding opponents to a 0.97 goals-against average.

Hartford went 11-6-2 last season and saw its campaign come to an end at UMBC in the league's title game for the second-straight season. Defeating the Hawks, 2-1, the Retrievers went on to advance to the NCAA College Cup's Final Four.

The Hawks will announce additional members of this recruiting class in the coming month.