ST. LOUIS – The University of Missouri-St. Louis men's soccer team kicks off its 2023 season this Sunday as it travels to Owensboro, Ky., to take on former GLVC rival Kentucky Wesleyan at 3:30 p.m. at Panther Field.

The Tritons play their first five games of the season away from home and its home opener will be on Friday, Sept. 29 when they take on Indianapolis at 7:30 p.m. at Don Dallas Field.

UMSL returns 15 players from last year's squad and added 11 newcomers consisting of six transfers and five freshmen. Jack Meuse, Gabe Stanislawski and Nick Schreiber are the team's top returning scorers from last season. Meuse tallied seven points last year scoring three goals and an assist while Stanislawski added two goals and an assist and Schreiber finished with a pair of goals. Austin Reis started every game in goal last season going 5-8-3 with a goals against average of 1.66 while making 56 saves and posting a pair of shutouts in more than 1400 minutes played.

The Tritons were picked to finish ninth in the GLVC this season and are under the direction of new head coach Josh Alderson.

Scouting the Competition
The Panthers are coming off an 8-7-3 record in 2022 and were especially tough at home going 5-1-3. Calum Newson led the team in scoring a season ago with 35 points tallying 14 goals and seven assists. Santiago Henrich was tied for third on the squad with nine points. Maxten Miller scored four goals for a total of eight points. Arthur Hill made 12 appearances with 11 starts in goal in 2022 finishing with a record of 3-5-3. In 878 minutes of action he had a goals against average of 1.84 while making 45 saves and posted the Panthers lone shutout of the season.

KWC was picked to finish 10th this season in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.

Last Time They Met
The Panthers and Tritons met on Labor Day weekend last year with KWC coming out on top 3-2 in a game played at the Lou Fusz Complex in Maryland Heights. The Panthers took the early lead on a goal from Newson in the 17th minute but UMSL tied it 16 minutes later as Brady Glon scored off a corner kick.

KWC scored back-to-back goals in the span of 12:19 early in the second half. Theo White put them ahead in the 49th minute and then Julian Gonzalez made it 3-1 in the 61st minute. The Tritons dominated the final 20 minutes of play but only got a goal from Leo Sowa off a penalty kick in the 86th minute to cut the deficit to 3-2.

Up Next
UMSL continues its season opening five game road swing traveling to Fayette, Mo., next Thursday to take on Central Methodist at 7 p.m. at Davis Field.