ROLLA, Mo. – After having its best performance in Gabe Hall's tenure as head coach at Missouri S&T, the Miner soccer team enters the 2016 campaign looking for a way to make up for some significant losses in personnel.

The losses include three players who earned All-Great Lakes Valley Conference honors last fall, including the team's top scorer in Eduardo Abichabki (Sao Jose do Rio Pardo, Brazil/Colegio Unigrau) and leader in assists in Ryan Lawhead (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon Township).  But there are some important pieces still in place, ones that Hall is looking at to lead the way when the Miners open the regular season schedule Friday.

"Even though we lost a number of starters from last year's team, we still have experienced players at every position along with a number of guys who are excited about their opportunity to have an impact on the squad," Hall said.

S&T opens its 2016 slate Friday against Spring Hill College in Mobile, Ala., in the first game of a two-game holiday weekend road trip; the second game will take place Sunday in Pensacola, Fla., against West Florida.  The Miners' first home game is the GLVC opener on Sept. 9 against Saint Joseph's.

As the Miners head into Friday's season opener, they will do with the return of their second-leading scorer from last season in Felipe Andrade (Belo Horizonte, Brazil), a first-team All-GLVC pick last year.  Andrade finished the year with seven goals and six assists to rank among the league's scoring leaders and is being looked upon to head S&T's offensive attack.

"The thing I love about Felipe is he thrives on the pressure of leading the team's attack," Hall said.  "If he does not score in training or the game, it motivates him to be better the next day."

Joining Andrade are returners Austin Parks (Rolla, MO/Rolla), who scored four times a year ago and Will McIntyre (Queenstown, New Zealand), who had three goals and three assists in his first season at S&T.  The Miners are also looking for production from returner Unnar Ulfarsson (Gardabaer, Iceland/Fjolnir Reykjavik) and newcomer Eric Ferenbach (Godfrey, IL/Alton).

"The great part about our attacking group is each player is slightly different and every one of them has the ability to be productive," Hall said.  "Once they start clicking, it will be an exciting team to watch."

The Miners' midfield, however, took some hits on both the graduation and injury front.  S&T lost two starting midfielders to graduation, then saw one of its returning starters, David Murphy (Naperville, IL/Naperville Central), go down in the pre-season due to an injury along with another, Martin Klevjer (Trondheim, Norway), who is coming back from one that led to him missing much of the final month of last season.

S&T will be relying on a combination of returners and newcomers to fill those roles, headed by senior Neil Wiaranowski (Naperville, IL/Naperville North) and returners Bryce Johnson (O'Fallon, MO/Fort Zumwalt South) and Riley Windsor (Delaware, OH/Worthington Christian), who rejoins the Miners after not playing in 2015.  The Miners will also be looking at some new faces in the midfield spots, namely Tobias Beck (Straubing, Germany) and Trey Haman (St. Louis, MO/St. Louis University HS).

"Our midfielders are a well-balanced group.  We look for them to be the engine of this team," Hall said.

Mitch Morris (O'Fallon, MO/Fort Zumwalt West) and Matt Kilwin (St. Louis, MO/Chaminade College Prep) return as starters to the back line, which lost two All-GLVC performers in Lawhead and Henning Schoene (Duisberg, Germany/Reinhard) to graduation.  The returning seniors will lead a group that gains a veteran performer in Mike Scharf (Wildwood, MO/Lafayette), a transfer from Maryville University – Scharf's younger brother, Matt, is a freshman midfielder for S&T – and adds freshmen Tyler Sivadon (Spring, TX/Concordia Lutheran) and Lyall Cameron (Kilmarnock, Scotland) to the mix.

The back line players will play in front of a goalkeeping contingent that includes three returners to the roster, headed by Nick Posey (Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville), a sophomore who made 13 starts a year ago and recorded a 1.23 goals against average.  Returning squadmembers Mason Fannin (Kansas City, MO/Park Hill) and Corey Jolitz (Sussex, WI/Marquette University HS) will compete with Posey for the role along with newcomer Aaron Hohenstein (St. Louis, MO/Lutheran South), a transfer from St. Louis College of Pharmacy where he played for the last two seasons.

"It is great to have the depth we have in goal and along our back line," Hall said.  "It means that everyday guys have to compete for a starting spot and minutes.  Hopefully this competition will accelerate the learning curve for some of our younger guys."