ROLLA, MO  --  Missouri S&T Men's Soccer will be at Allgood-Bailey Stadium this Saturday, hosting Southern Nazarene University for their season opener before hitting the road to Kentucky to play Kentucky Wesleyan on Monday. The team will also be celebrating Senior Day on Saturday as they honor the senior members of the squad.


About the Miners
Missouri S&T enjoyed one of their best seasons in years during the 2024 campaign, starting the year 6-1-2 to put up the team's best record through nine matches since 1998. However, they would go 2-5-2 the second half of the season, resulting in the team missing the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament by just one point.

The Miners lost some key personnel to graduation, with Afxentis Andreou (Paphos, Cyprus/Lykeo Agios Charalambous), Mustafa Hasan (St. Louis, MO/Lindbergh), Jimmy Sanchez (St. Charles, MO/Francis Howell Central), and Daylan Frerker (Collinsvillle, IL/Collinsville) all leaving. The team's top goal scorers are returning for the 2025 season though, with Mike Banasik (Loekkegade, Denmark/Hjoering Gymnasium) and Luke Giesing (St. Louis, MO/Lindbergh) both set to contribute heavily this season.


About the Crimson Storm
Southern Nazarene went 12-5-4 last season, only dropping one match in conference play. They would earn the #1 seed in the 2024 GAC/MIAA Championship, advancing to the finals before falling to #3 Fort Hayes State. They earned a berth to the national tournament, but would fall in the opening round to Rogers State.

The Crimson Storm lost their greatest offensive weapon in Unaiz Shajani, a senior forward who led the team in scoring with 13 goals scored. Returning seniors Lucas Beja and Junior Duran will do their best to fill the void left by Shajani, with the two combining for 12 goals and 29 points last year.


About the Panthers
The Miners defeated the Panthers 2-1 last season, winning on a last second goal by Luiz Bernis (Belo Horizonte, Brazil/Colegio Santo Antonio) to drop Kentucky Wesleyan to 1-1 on the year. The Panthers would go on to have a successful season though, winning 10 matches (their most since 1991) and making it all the way to the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Championship.

The Panthers are only returning three student-athletes who scored multiple goals last season, with Cal Nolan, Braden Myers-Curry, and Haakon Torvbraaten each recording three. The team will also be without their starting goalkeeper from 2024, but Assumption transfer Iver Sjavag is expected to takeover that role this year.

What's Next
The Miners will have another home/away split next week, hosting Union on Friday then traveling to face the Lincoln Blue Tigers on Sunday.

Sign up for our email blast at https://minerathletics.com/subscribe.aspx
Follow Miners Men's Soccer on X and Instagram at miners_msoc