No. 11 Tiger Men's Soccer opens up their 2023 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) crusade this week with matches against Southwestern University and Texas Lutheran University.
The Tigers had an offensive explosion in their match against the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. The game saw the Tigers score six goals.
JonConnor Rule (San Antonio, Texas / Johnson) saw himself score twice, tying a career-high for him.
Chen Adjei (Euless, Texas / Trinity) and
Will Powell (Bexley, Kent / Beth Grammar School) showed off their footwork by dribbling past multiple defenders to find the back of the net. Sophomore
Zach Anderson (Davis, California / Davis) scored off of a beautiful pass from Adjei. Finally, sophomore
Adam Knutson (Dripping Springs, Texas / Dripping Springs) scored yet another goal to bring his season total to a team-leading five goals. The Tigers would blow out the Crusaders by a score of 6-1.
United Soccer Coaches Rankings
With their stellar effort this season, the United Soccer Coaches have ranked the Tiger Men's Soccer Team 11th nationally. Tiger Men's Soccer has moved up 4 spots from their 15th ranking in the previous week. Messiah University now occupies the top spot, with Mary Washington University moving to number two. SCAC rival St. Thomas moved up to the 8th spot.
Weekend Preview - Opening Conference Play
The Tigers open up SCAC play against two of the top teams in the conference, both of which are undefeated in the young 2023 season. The Tigers will travel to Georgetown to take on Southwestern on Friday, September 29th at 8:00 PM and then hit the road to Seguin to face off against Texas Lutheran Bulldogs on Sunday, October 1st at 1:00 PM.
On the Southwestern Pirates: The Pirates bring a 4-0-3 record to conference play. The Pirates hold wins against Willamette, Whitman, ETBU, and Concordia (TX). The Pirates have yet to be shut out this season and hold three shutouts of their own. The Tigers will look to stop sophomore defender Raghav Sharma, as he leads the team in goals with 4. The Tigers will also look to stop the passing attempts of midfielder Greyson Pinto, who has a team-leading 3 assists.
On the Texas Lutheran Bulldogs: The Bulldogs bring in an excellent 9-0 record to conference play. The Bulldogs have only allowed three goals in their nine games played, but have not scored more than three goals in a single match. Although the Bulldogs lost All-American Luis Green, the Bulldogs have a duo of leading scorers in juniors Erick Lopez and Jack Manke. The Tigers will look to get the ball past senior goalkeeper Noel Pena, who holds a .893 save percentage, which ranks 15th nationally.
Looking Ahead - SCAC Home Openers
The Tigers will begin their SCAC home play with matches against the University of Dallas on Friday, October 6th, and Austin College on Sunday, October 8th.
