DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake University men's soccer program has added two transfer student-athletes for the 2018 season, head coach Gareth Smith announced Tuesday, Feb. 20. The two transfers, who enrolled at the start of the spring semester, are Cole Poppen (Ankeny, Iowa) and Kellar Sirstins (Cottonwood Heights, Utah). Both will be redshirt juniors for the 2018 campaign.
 
Poppen, a midfielder, was a two-year letterwinner at Tulsa University, where he started 23 of 31 career matches, scored one goal and handed out four assists. Poppen helped the Golden Hurricane win two American Athletic Conference championships and qualify for two NCAA Tournaments. He is from Ankeny, Iowa, but played club soccer for the US Soccer Development Academy team, Shattuck St. Mary's, in Faribault, Minn.
 
"We are delighted to welcome Cole to Drake men's soccer," Smith said. "He is an established talent who has demonstrated his abilities at the highest level. His passion and drive to be the best he can be is evident and will help push our program to new levels of success. He is intelligent, creative and versatile in that he has demonstrated the capability of playing a number of positions very effectively."
 
Sirstins played two seasons for Iona College with 14 career starts at goalkeeper. He was a two-time Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference All-Academic selection. Sirstins is from Cottonwood Heights, Utah and played high school soccer for Taylorsville High School. He was a two-time second team all-state selection, two-time all-region pick and as a junior helped his team win their first regional championship in 15 years.  
 
"Kellar is another very exciting addition to our program," Smith said. "He is a physically imposing 6-4 goalkeeper who has a great presence on the field. He has a range of technical and tactical abilities which will add dimension to our ability to build from the back and as a result increase our tactical flexibility when attacking. He has an exceptional work rate and is tipped to impact our program in a big way."