St. Cloud State Men’s Soccer Opens 2024 Season with Two Non-Conference Road Games

Thursday, September 5

Kirksville, Mo.

7:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

Truman State (Mo.)

Photo by: Isaac Bentrott

St. Cloud State Men’s Soccer Opens 2024 Season with Two Non-Conference Road Games

9/3/2024 3:12:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Huskies to play Truman State on Thursday, St. Thomas on Saturday

St. Cloud, Minn.- St. Cloud State Men's Soccer will open their 2024 season on the road with two non-conference opponents. On Thursday, September 5, the Huskies will travel down to Kirksville, Mo. to take on Truman State and then return to Minnesota to play St. Thomas on Saturday, September 7. Thursday's season opener is set for 7:00 p.m. CT and Saturday's game is slated for 12:00 p.m. CT.

Follow the Huskies
Thursday's game will be streamed live for free on the GLVC Sports Network and Saturday's game will be streamed on Midco Sports Plus (registration required). Live stats will be provided by both Truman State and St. Thomas. Links for each game can be found on the St. Cloud State Men's Soccer Schedule.

Series History
Thursday's game against Truman State will be the third matchup between the programs with Bulldogs holding a 1-0-1 record. In last year's meeting, Truman State opened the scoring in the 38th minute with a strike from Daniel Riazi to take a 1-0 lead. The Huskies would respond three minutes later as Mika Folstad was fouled in the penalty box which led to Zinedine Kroeten tying the game off the penalty kick. The teams would battle on, but it was the Bulldogs who came out victorious as Luke Payne scored the game-winning goal in 58th minute as Truman State defeated St. Cloud State 2-1.

Saturday's game against St. Thomas will be the first game between the teams in the regular season. The teams have played twice against each other in preseason play.

Scouting Truman State
Coming off of a 6-6-4 season in 2023 and a sixth-place finish in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, the Bulldogs will be opening their season against the Huskies on Thursday. Last season, Truman State was defeated in the GLVC Quarterfinals by the University of Indianapolis 2-1 after the Greyhounds broke a 1-1 tie with six seconds remaining in the game to advance to the Semifinals.

This season, Truman State will be returning three of their six top points scorers including their second leading scorer, sophomore Corbin Clay. Clay produced nine points on four goals and an assist in his inaugural season with the Bulldogs. The other notable points scorers returning include junior Nathan Grewe, who scored three points off a goal and an assist, and sophomore Landon Keisker who tallied three assists for three points.

Defending the net for the Bulldogs will be senior Justin Olwig who is coming off of a 2023 season that saw him start in all 16 games and registered a 6-6-4 record. Olwig also recorded a 1.06 goals against average and produced 71 saves with a .807 save percentage. Olwig finished third in the GLVC in saves a season ago.

Head coach Duke Cocrhran will be entering his 20th season at the helm of Truman State in 2024. During his tenure, Cochran has accumulated a 136-149-39 record and is the program's winningest coach. Cochran and the Bulldogs have recorded two consecutive seasons in which they finished seventh or higher in the GLVC standings after having eight consecutive seasons placing no higher than tenth.

Scouting St. Thomas
The St. Thomas Tommy's come into this game with a 1-1-2 record after opening their season against Northern Illinois on August 22. In their last two games, St. Thomas recorded a 1-1 draw against DePaul and Milwaukee. The Tommy's are coming off a 2023 season in which they posted a 3-10-3 record and finished fifth in the Summit League.

St. Thomas returned there top three points scorers from 2023 including senior Faris Colic, senior Keegan James, and junior Oliver Bieleveldt. Colic led the team in scoring with seven points on three goals and an assist, James recorded five points off of two scores and an assist, and Bieleveldt recorded four points off of two goals. In their first four games, Colic has already found the back of net with a goal against DePaul.

Sophomore Moritz Krenc will be in goal for the Tommies. In his freshman season, Krenc started in 11 games, recorded a 2.32 goals against average, tallied 48 saves with a .658 save percentage, and registered a 1-8-2 record. Krenc has started in all four games for St. Thomas this season and tallied a 2.00 goals against average with 24 saves and a .750 save percentage. The sophomore has also allowed eight goals, recorded a shutout, and accumulated a 1-1-2 record.

Head coach Jon Lowery will be entering his 13th season with St. Thomas in 2024. During his tenure, Lowery has accumulated a 122-63-23 record. Lowery and St. Thomas are in the midst of transitioning from a Division III program to a Division I program, which occurred in 2021. Lowery has a record of 7-26-5 competing at the Division I level. While playing at the Division III level, Lowery compiled a plethora of accolades including being a 3-time MIAC Coach of the Year, a 2-time Region Coaching Staff of the Year, National Coach of the Year, 2-time MIAC Tournament Champions, and 3-time MIAC Regular Season Champions.

GLIAC Preseason Poll
St. Cloud State Men's Soccer was picked to finish fifth in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Conference (GLIAC) Preseason Coaches' Poll, as announced by the league on August 20. The Huskies will be entering their fourth season as a program in 2024 and will be looking to build off the 2023 season that saw them go 3-6-6 with a 3-4-4 conference record. SCSU also reached its second straight GLIAC Tournament.

The Huskies offensive attack will have many familiar faces with four of their five top points scorers returning in 2024. Highlighted by two-time all-conference performer Philip Caputo, the other top returners include Owen Worsdell, Noah Kantorowicz and Yuken Harmon. Caputo strung together his second consecutive all-conference nod after totaling six points with a goal and four assists partnered with 24 shots and 8 shots on goal. The senior midfielder started and played in 12 games for the Huskies, logging 775 minutes. Despite playing in the backline defense, Worsdell made the most of his limited offensive opportunities as he finished third on the team in points with five. The junior knocked in two goals on six shots with an assist while starting in all 15 matches for the Huskies. Worsdell went on to earn an All-Conference Honorable Mention. Kantorowicz tallied four points off of two goals in his 645 minutes played. The 5th year senior produced 12 shots with four of them coming on goal in his 14 appearances while making seven starts. Harmon played in all 15 games a season ago while making five starts. In his 716 minutes of action, the junior registered three points coming from a goal and assist while shooting 13 shots with six of them landing on goal.

Senior midfielder Nolan Pratumwon and senior defender Noah Eklund round out the returning Huskies who started in all 15 matches a season ago. Pratumwon has been the steady midfield presence for the Huskies in his tenure with eight career points on two goals and four assists. The senior earned an All-Conference Honorable Mention in 2022 and produced 14 shots this past season. Since transferring from Northern Michigan, Eklund has been relied upon as a defensive standout in his tenure. Appearing in 29 contests over his two years with the program, the senior has started 27 matches and logged 2261minutes. Eklund was an All-Conference Honorable Mention in 2021 with Northern Michigan.

Senior forward Andrés García will be returning to the Huskies after missing the previous two seasons due to injury. In his lone year at St. Cloud State, Garcia scored eight goals on his way to setting a Huskies single season points record with 16. Garcia was awarded Second Team All-GLIAC for his efforts.

Despite the plethora of returners, St. Cloud State lost notable players including goalkeeper Dylan De Baldo, midfielder Zinedine Kroeten, and defender Vukota Mastilovic. De Baldo started all 15 games for the Huskies last season and recorded 83 saves which was a GLIAC high, five shutouts, and a 1.80 goals allowed average. De Baldo was awarded Second Team All-Conference a year ago. Kroeten was the Huskies leading scorer with 10 points on four goals and two assists. Two of those scores were game winners. Mastilovic was also awarded Second Team All-Conference after playing the most minutes on the team, logging two points, and playing stout defense. Mastilovic was retained as a Graduate Assistant Coach this offseason.

The Huskies will have a lot of new faces this upcoming season with 17 players brought in during the offseason. Owen Johnson, Max Subra, Will Cooley, Yanis Smeg, William Gonzalez, Eduardo Balduino, Matt Greenland, Ziad Kaddah, Yannick Langerhuizen, and Elliot Hadley present a strong class of transfers that will be looking to make an impact in their inaugural season.

Head Coach Sean Holmes will be in command for his fifth season with St. Cloud State. Since the inauguration of the program in 2020, Holmes has seen steady improvement year after year and has reached the GLIAC Tournament in consecutive seasons.