ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T's men's soccer team opens a critical stretch of Great Lakes Valley Conference contests at home against a pair of teams at or near the top of the league standings this weekend.
The Miners, who will play four of their next five games at home – all four home games are GLVC matches – opens the run of games Friday when Truman State visits S&T for a 7:30 p.m. contest. Missouri S&T will then host one of the GLVC co-leaders, Quincy, at 2:30 p.m. Sunday.
Missouri S&T split a pair of games in the St. Louis area over the past weekend, falling 2-1 at Maryville before blanking Missouri-St. Louis 2-0 Sunday.
Austin Parks (Rolla, Mo./Rolla) and
Martin Klevjer (Trondheim, Norway) scored the Miner goals in the second half while
Nick Posey (Edwardsville, Ill./Edwardsville) recorded his second shutout of the season in Sunday's win;
David Murphy (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) scored the lone Miner goal on Friday, as S&T fell on a late goal by the Saints.
The split left the Miners in a five-way tie for second place in the GLVC behind Rockhurst and Quincy – who are tied for the league lead – a group that includes Truman State, who comes into the game riding a four-game winning that includes wins over Lindenwood and Rockhurst, who was ranked sixth heading into the game.
Truman has had a balanced scoring attack led by Corey Nolte with three goals and three assists for nine points. Craig McLaurine is the top goal scorer for the Bulldogs (6-5, 5-3 GLVC) with four on the season, while Trevor Kaufmann has also scored three times.
Drew Orf and Jory Knernschield have split the duties in goal this season, with Knernschield recording three wins in the nets and a 0.80 goals against average.
The Miners have the GLVC's leader in points in
Felipe Andrade (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) with 14 on the season with five goals and four assists. Andrade is also among six players in the GLVC with five goals to top that chart along with teammate
Eduardo Abichabki (Sao Jose do Rio Pardo, Brazil/Colegio Unigrau), who has 11 points to rank in a tie for fourth in the conference.
Andrade and
Ryan Lawhead (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon Township) are tied for fourth in the league in assists with four, while
Will McIntyre (Queenstown, New Zealand) and
Maxi Fuchs (Munich, Germany) have three assists apiece.
Posey has a 1.23 goals against average and 25 saves in 808 minutes of playing time.
Quincy played to a scoreless tie with Rockhurst on Sunday to remain tied for the league lead, but comes into play this weekend as the GLVC's top scoring team with 23 goals in 10 games. The Hawks (7-2-1, 6-1-1 GLVC) have scored two or more goals in seven of their 10 games this season.
Taylor Reis is also among the group of six with five goals on the season and has a team-high 12 points, while Artan Emini has recorded 11 points on three goals and five assists. Emini and Xhovani Dokaj are tied for second in the GLVC in assists with five apiece.
Nate Griffin has a 1.17 goals against average and three shutouts on the season for the Hawks.
