ROLLA, Mo. – The last two seasons have seen Missouri S&T's men's soccer team finish among the top four in the regular season standings in the Great Lakes Valley Conference and earn a home game in the first round of the conference tournament.

In order for the Miners to extend that run to a third straight year – something the GLVC coaches predicted will happen, as S&T was picked fourth in the league's pre-season poll – they will have to be prepared to deal with a different set of expectations according to head coach Gabe Hall.

"Our guys have to realize that because we've finished fourth and second in the conference in each of the last two years, that puts us in a different position than we've been in the past," Hall said.  "We're not the underdog any more, but looked at as a team that is a challenge, so now we have one of our own to deal with -- how do we deal with being a team with a target on our back?  I think that our guys are excited about it and looking forward to that challenge," Hall said.

To reach those expectations, the Miners, who went 10-3-6 overall and 9-1-5 in conference play in 2016, will look to a returning group of players that includes the top four scorers from last fall and one of the top goalkeepers in the GLVC to lead the way as it opens its schedule Saturday with a 1 p.m. contest against Northeastern State at the S&T Soccer Field.

Felipe Andrade (Belo Horizonte, Brazil/), a first-team All-GLVC and second-team all-region selection in 2016, led the GLVC in goals with 12 and was among the top overall scorers in the lead with 27.  He will bring his goal-scoring prowess back for his senior year, where he will be joined by fellow juniors Unnar Ulfarsson (Gardabaer, Iceland/Fjolnir Reykjavik), Will McIntyre (Queenstown, New Zealand/) and Austin Parks (Rolla, MO/Rolla).

Ulfarsson also earned All-GLVC honors last year after posting six goals and seven assists from his midfield position, while McIntyre added four goals and five assists and Parks scored four times, including twice in a late-season win over Rockhurst that put the Miners into a tie for the conference lead.

"The great thing about Felipe is that he can get you goals," Hall said.  "Anybody that has a forward who can score 10 or 15 times in a season is golden, because there's not many of them out there in college soccer.

"With Unnar, I don't think we've seen his full potential yet," Hall added.  "You saw a lot of his scoring come off set pieces and I know he has the potential to be more productive in the flow of the game.   I think the more productive he becomes, the more opportunities others will get.  I also think that Austin is ready to break out as he creates a lot of chances and will get better at converting them."

S&T also returns several veteran midfielders in Martin Klevjer (Trondheim, Norway/), David Murphy (Naperville, IL/Naperville Central) – who missed the entire 2016 season due to an injury – Bryce Johnson (O'Fallon, MO/Fort Zumwalt South) and Riley Windsor (Delaware, OH/Worthington Christian), all of whom have a good deal of game experience with the Miners.  Returning sophomores Matt Scharf (Wildwood, MO/Lafayette) and Trey Haman (St. Louis, MO/St. Louis University HS) also figure to contend for playing time on the back line or as midfielders.

The roster this fall is also dotted with several freshmen and Hall feels a number of them can be contributors, including forwards Julien Denis (Olathe, KS/Olathe East) and Garrett Balassi (St. Louis, MO/Oakville) and midfielders Alex Brewer (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley Northwest), Mark Poindexter (Raymore, MO/Raymore-Peculiar) and Ryan DiBernardo (Kansas City, MO/Park Hill South).

"The depth of our team, especially on the attacking side, speaks volumes for these guys," Hall said.

In goal, the Miners bring back Aaron Hohenstein (St. Louis, MO/Lutheran South), who was among the league and NCAA Division II leaders last year in saves with 89 (4.94 per game) and goals against average, as his mark was at 0.87 at year's end.  Junior Nick Posey (Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville), who made several starts in the nets as a freshman two seasons ago, will compete with Hohenstein for the starting role.

"Aaron did an unbelievable job for us last year," Hall said.  "I don't think people realize how important he was to our team.  But with Nick here as well, we're really deep in quality at the position going into this season."

Missouri S&T allowed just 20 goals in its 18 games last year as it had an experienced crew along the back line.  However, S&T graduated three seniors from that unit and enters the upcoming year with the potential of starting three freshman alongside the one returner from last season, sophomore Tyler Sivadon (Spring, TX/Concordia Lutheran).

The three freshmen projected to start in Saturday's opener are Tim Schreffl (Rosenheim, Germany/Findsterwalder Gymnasium), who spent the spring semester at S&T along with newcomers Paal Benum (Trondheim, Norway/Byaasen Videregaadende) and Ian Hansen (Springfield, MO/Kickapoo).  In addition, returners Garrett Trautman (Amory, MS/Amory) and a pair of redshirt freshmen, Joshua Zembas (Wadsworth, OH/Wadsworth) and Austin Reiniger (Maryville, IL/Collinsville), also figure to be in the mix for playing time on the back line.

"Because of the youth, there's going to be some moments that we're going to have to ride out and use as teaching moments," Hall said.  "But bringing back a senior goalkeeper is big, because he knows the expectations and how we want to play and will be able to bring some leadership to that group along with Tyler."

S&T's opponent on Saturday, Northeastern State, was 7-9-1 last season and was picked to finish third in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association.  The RiverHawks bring back their top two scorers from the 2016 campaign in Trevor Reed, who tallied seven goals and Joe Garcia, who notched 10 assists and 14 points overall.   Goalkeeper Ryan Davis saw action in 12 games and recorded a 1.82 goals against average.

The Miners will also be in action Tuesday with a home game against Northwood, a traditional power in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.  The Timberwolves are coming off a year where they went 11-4-3 and also return their top two scorers in Ben Campbell (5 goals, 16 points) and Zachary Bakos (team-high seven goals).

Tuesday's game with Northwood will get underway at 5 p.m. at the S&T Soccer Field in the middle game of the Miners' season-opening three-game homestand.