ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T's men's soccer team faces a pair of challenging non-conference games to kick off its 2021 season this weekend, as the Miners will head to the state of Oklahoma to play two nationally ranked teams to open the schedule.

S&T's season gets underway Thursday when it faces 22^nd-ranked Midwestern State in Claremore, Okla., then the Miners will remain in the Sooner State for a Saturday matchup against 19^th-ranked Northeastern State in Tahlequah, Okla.  Both games get underway at 1 p.m.

The Miners, who finished 5-8-1 in their spring campaign and were in contention for a spot in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament all the way to the final day of the season, return their top two scorers from last season in Jason Jorgensen (Florence, Italy/Liceo Scientifico Santa Maria) and Dario Rossell (Madrid, Spain/IES Lazaro Cardenas).  Jorgensen, a third-team All-GLVC selection, finished the season with four goals as did Rossell and each player also had a game-winning goal during the year.

S&T returns eight players to the roster who scored goals in a season where all but one of its games were decided by one goal.

The Miners also bring back their top two goalkeepers in Michael Sallee (Springfield, MO/Catholic) and Davis Joseph (Andover, KS/Andover Central), as Sallee recorded a 1.39 goals against average with 22 saves in 974 minutes of playing time and Joseph had a 1.37 mark in goal in 329 minutes.

ABOUT MIDWESTERN STATE: The 22^nd-ranked Mustangs were picked to finish second in the Lone Star Conference just behind West Texas A&M and are coming off a spring season where they finished 7-3-1.  They return the LSC's Player of the Year in Trevor Amann, who had eight goals and three assists in those 11 games, as well as Mere Escobar, a five-goal scorer last spring and four-goal scorers Carlos Flores and Julian Barajas.

Goalkeeper Marc-Antoine Huzen returns in goal after a year in which he posted a 0.57 goals against average.  The Mustangs allowed only seven goals in those 11 games and scored 30 times.

ABOUT NORTHEASTERN STATE: The RiverHawks, ranked 19^th in the United Soccer Coaches pre-season poll, were picked to finish third in the Great American Conference/Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association this fall following a spring season where they went 5-3 and made the championship game of the GAC/MIAA Tournament.

NSU lost its top scorer from last season in James Doyle, but returns Flynn Semmerling following a four-goal season in the spring and Ryan McCully, who had seven points on two goals and three assists.  Sam Scarth recorded a team-high eight assists during the spring campaign, while goalkeeper Niklas Kirhoff turned away 23 shots and had a 1.46 goals against average in 554 minutes of action.