By: John Kean, Sports Information Director
ROLLA, Mo. – Still seeking its first win of the season in Great Lakes Valley Conference play, Missouri S&T's men's soccer team begins a three-game homestand Friday with a 7:30 p.m. match against Southwest Baptist at Allgood-Bailey Stadium.
After facing SBU on Friday, the Miners will host Drury Sunday at 2:30 p.m. at the S&T Soccer Field before closing the homestand Oct. 7 against Missouri-St. Louis.
Although the Miners have yet to pick up their first GLVC win, they have three ties in their five conference matches as they are 0-2-3 in GLVC action and 1-4-3 overall. The Miners earned a tie Sunday at William Jewell when
Luiz Bernis (Belo Horizonte, Brazil/Colegio Santo Antonio) headed in a ball off a throw-in by
Caden Archer (St. Louis, MO/Vianney) with just 11 seconds left on the clock to bring about a 2-2 tie.
S&T's other goal Sunday came from
Jason Jorgensen (Florence, Italy/Liceo Scientifico Santa Maria), who is one of seven Miners that have scored goals this season.
Sigurd Semlitsch (Oslo, Norway/Stabekk Videregaaende Skole) leads the way with three, while Jorgensen,
Afxentis Andreou (Paphos, Cyprus/Lykeo Agios Charalambous),
Shane Cairns (North Olmstead, OH/North Olmstead) and
Jacob Bandy (Bettendorf, IA/Pleasant Valley) all have assists to go with the goals they have scored for three points.
The goalkeeping duties have been handled primarily by
Davis Joseph (Andover, KS/Andover Central), who has a 1.96 goals against mark with 31 saves in 689 minutes of play.
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS: Southwest Baptist is also seeking its first win in GLVC play and first overall, as the Bearcats are 0-7-1 on the season and 0-4 in the GLVC. The Bearcats have scored in seven of their eight games this year, but have allowed a league-high 27 goals along the way.
Ignacio Masalli leads the Bearcats with three goals and scored his third last Friday in a 2-1 loss to Drury, while Titouan Fraslin has scored twice. Dawson Sozio and Willy Lusansu have shared the goalkeeping duties for the Bearcats, combining for a goals against mark of 3.38 with 46 saves.
Drury brings a 4-1-4 overall record and 2-0-3 GLVC mark into the weekend and has not lost in its last seven games. The lone Panther setback came in the opening weekend of the season when they fell 2-1 to Northeastern State – two days after the Miners had defeated the RiverHawks.
The Panthers are the highest scoring team in the GLVC as they have hit the net 16 times, led by Kaelen Debbage's league-leading six goals. Debbage also leads the conference with 14 points, while Nathan Logue has two goals and three assists on the year. Tyler Frolik has seen the bulk of the time in goals with a 0.53 goals against average in 675 minutes and 33 saves.