St. Cloud State Men’s Soccer Season Begins With 0-0 Draw

Friday, September 1

Lakewood, Colo.

2:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

0-0-1, 0-0-0

Colorado Christian

0-0-1, 0-0-0

St. Cloud St.

Colo. Christian

9/1/2023 7:05:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

De Baldo earns a clean sheet in Husky debut

LAKEWOOD, Colo. – St. Cloud State Men's Soccer (0-0-1, 0-0-0 GLIAC) opened its season with a 0-0 tie in a defensive battle against Colorado Christian on Friday afternoon in Lakewood, Colo. The temperatures were high in Colorado and so was the defensive intensity as neither team was able to put one in the back of the net.

CCU held the advantage in most offensive statistical categories on paper – including shots attempted and shots on goal with 12 and three respectively, meanwhile the Huskies managed only four shots and were unable to put any on frame. The Cougars also attempted more corner kicks, seven, than SCSU, two.

TOP HUSKIES

Fifth-year goalkeeper Dylan De Baldo (Vancouver, Wash.) earned his first clean sheet as a Husky in his debut for the program.
Fifth-year defender Vukota Mastilovic (Belgrade, Serbia) and senior midfielder Cullen McSweeney (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) wore the captain armbands and logged all 90 minutes in the shutout.
Fullbacks Noah Eklund (junior, Andover, Minn.) and Owen Worsdell (sophomore, Brighton, England) also played the full 90 minutes and made an impact on the game, contributing to holding the shutout.

QUOTEABLES – St. Cloud State head coach Sean Holmes

"This was a very good tie on the road...CCU was a team that smashed us 3-0 at our place last year...I thought we gave a very good account of ourselves this afternoon even though in the first half we were a little raggedy. It was hot, the turf was fast, altitude is different, but we grew into the game and as it went on, I thought we connected more passes and started to feel more comfortable on the ball."

"Every time you drive a long distance across the country it's going to be challenging but that's what our preconference schedule is designed to do – to prepare us for the rigors of the GLIAC."

"The back six with Dylan De Baldo in goal, Noah Eklund at right back, Owen Worsdell at left back, Andrew Holmes and Juan Villegas splitting time with Vuke at the center backs and Cullen McSweeney were terrific...added in to the defensive group, Nolan Pratumwon logged a lot of minutes and was key in connecting play through the midfield for us."

On the difference between this team and teams in years past... "We were really pleased with our tenacity, and I think it's apparent – we had a lot more fight and grit and resilience [today]. You can see the difference that a year makes...we didn't collapse under the relentless pressure that CCU put us under in the first half...last year we collapsed at the first sign of adversity and this year we have increased our resolve."

Going forward... "The second part of the test will be to respond against a strong MSU-Denver team on Sunday... the RMAC is always competitive, regardless of who you play... we played 17 guys and we still have some more guys who are going to hopefully contribute on Sunday."

NOTABLES

With the tie, SCSU improves to 0-1-1 all-time against Colorado Christian.
First time opening a season with a tie.
Third shutout in program history.
De Baldo faced 12 shots but only needed to make three saves as the rest of the shots were not on target.
Sophomore midfielder Yuken Harmon (Coon Rapids, Minn.) recorded two shots which was half of the team's total for the game.
Five Huskies went the distance: De Baldo, Mastilovic, McSweeney, Eklund and Worsdell.
Two Huskies made their collegiate debut and five made their SCSU debut in the game. Redshirt freshman midfielder/defender Andrew Holmes (St. Cloud, Minn.) and freshman midfielder Ronaldo Lopez (Baraboo, Wis.) made their first appearance in a collegiate game. De Baldo, redshirt senior forward Jonas Luskey Sanders (Madison, Wis.) and sophomore defender Juan Villegas (Miami, Fla.) made their first appearance in a St. Cloud State uniform after transferring from Cal State-Dominguez Hills, Central Arkansas, and Iowa Lakes respectively.

UP NEXT

The Huskies wrap up their season opening two-game road trip with a game against Metropolitan State University of Denver. The game kicks off locally at 11 a.m. MT / 12 p.m. CT in Denver, Colo. Links to the live stream and live stats for Sunday's match can be found on the SCSU Men's Soccer schedule page.

For all the latest on St. Cloud State Men's Soccer, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.