ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T Men's Soccer is set to kick off the 2024 season Thursday against Northeastern State and Sunday at Kentucky Wesleyan.
 
Match 1: Northeastern State (0-0) @Missouri S&T (0-0), Thursday at 7 p.m.
 
The Miners will play the Riverhawks for the fourth consecutive season on Thursday night. In that three-year span, S&T is 2-1 after Northeastern took the match last year 3-1. In their all-time series, the Miners lead the Riverhawks 6-5-1 since 1982.
 
Northeastern State finished last year with an 8-6-4 season and 6-4-2 record in GAC play. In the GAC/MIAA Tournament, the Riverhawks lost in the first round to Southern Nazarene, 2-0.
 
Top goal scorer Ivan Lopez returns for his second season after scoring five goals in 15 games last year. Defender William De Dios, who logged 1,500 minutes, also returns for his senior season.
 
In last year's 1-3 loss to Northeastern, Mike Banasik (Loekkegade, Denmark/Hjoering Gymnasium) scored his first collegiate goal against the Riverhawks. Lopez scored twice in that game.  
 
Match 2: Missouri S&T (0-0) @Kentucky Wesleyan (0-0), Sunday at 2 p.m.
 
Missouri S&T will play another familiar non-conference opponent, Kentucky Wesleyan, on Sunday. The Panthers defeated the Miners last season with a late goal in the 82^nd minute. S&T has dominated Kentucky Wesleyan, with a record of 14-1-1 dating back to 1981.
 
The Panthers went 8-5-6 overall last season with a 5-4-5 Great Midwest Athletic Conference record. They lost 5-1 to Thomas More in the first round of the conference tournament.
 
Senior Santiago Henrich returns for his fourth season after he was second on the team last season with eight goals and 20 points. Goalkeeper Arthur Hill, who made 60 saves in 18 games last season, is also back.
 
Jacob Boling scored the game-winning goal on Sept. 8 last season, and Hill made five saves. Joao Vieira (Punta del Este, Uruguay/International College) and former fifth-year Santiago Cervantes (Collierville, TN/Collierville) scored for the Miners, while Jimmy Sanchez (St. Charles, MO/Francis Howell Central) tallied three shots, totaling 14 in the loss.
 
What's Next
 
The Miners will remain on the road next week, traveling to Union on Sept. 23 at 4pm. They will return home on Sept. 15 to face new GLVC opponent Lincoln at 2:30pm.
 
Follow Miners Men's Soccer on X and Instagram at miners_msoc