Complete PDF Notes
Upcoming in Gray Wolves Soccer: After a cancellation last weekend, Lourdes University will try to open its 2020 men's soccer season for the second time this Saturday as the Gray Wolves travel to Point Park.  The match is the first of three straight road contests for Lourdes to begin the year.

Head Coach Matt Johnson: Matt Johnson took over as the second head coach in program's history prior to the 2019 season.  Johnson sports a 81-96-8 (.459) record overall in his 11th season as a men's collegiate soccer coach and has a 6-12 (.333) mark in his second year at Lourdes.

Series Notes: Lourdes and Goshen are meeting on the pitch for the first time ever in men's soccer on Saturday.

Wrapping Up Last Week: Lourdes' schedule season opener against Goshen last Saturday was cancelled due to COVID-19 test results not being received by mid-afternoon.

Wrapping Up 2019: Lourdes finished the 2019 season with a 6-12 record overall and a 4-7 mark in Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference play.  The Gray Wolves finished in 10th place in the league and did not qualify for the WHAC tournament.

Scouting Point Park: The Pioneers went 15-3 overall and 7-2 in the River States Conference during the 2019 campaign, placing third in the league standings.  Mitchell Roell led Point Park in scoring last season with 15 goals and six assists for 36 total points and returns for his senior season.  Geert Bijl added 11 goals and finished second on the team with 25 points.  Point Park will be starting a new netminder this season, as the Pioneers are void of a returning goalkeeper.

Lourdes in Season Openers: Lourdes enters the contest 3-1-1 all-time in season openers.  The Gray Wolves are looking to bounce back from their first season-opening setback in program history last year, when Lourdes fell 1-0 in double-overtime at Taylor.  The Gray Wolves last won a season opener in 2018, a 1-0 triumph at Indiana East, and are 1-0-1 all-time when playing their season opener at home.  The Gray Wolves last opened a season at home in 2017.

Latest Start Ever: Due to the NAIA pushing the start date back to Sept. 5 for all fall sports, this marks the latest Lourdes has ever started a men's soccer season and the first time the year has kicked off in September.  The previous latest starting date was Aug. 28 in 2015, 2017, and 2018.

2019 Award Winner: Darius Passley-Bennett became the first Gray Wolf in program history to be named to the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference All-Newcomer Team in 2019.  Passley-Bennett led the Gray Wolves in scoring with seven goals and 16 total points as a junior after joining the program from Lassen Community College.

Other Top Returning Scorers: In addition to Darius Passley-Bennett returning to the roster this season, Farouk Amoo finished second on the squad with four goals and three assists for 11 total points.  Andris Klempert is the only other Gray Wolf to return this season after notching more that one goal, having found the back of the net twice in 2019.

Experience Returns in Goal: Lourdes has a trio of goalkeepers that shared time one season ago.  Ali Chokr posted a appeared in the most matches, making 11 starts while posting a 1.55 goals against average and registering three shutouts. Garrett Baxley saw action in six contests, had a 1.39 GAA and a clean sheet while Jorge Mendoza posted a 0.76 GAA and a .846 save percentage in three matches.

Experience Returning: Olawole Ogunsanya enters the season tied with Akilla Arno (2015-2017) and Tyler Rogers (2016-2019) for second in program history having appeared in 48 career matches.  He trails only Reece Riccardi (2016-2019), who appeared in 57 matches, on the Gray Wolves' all-time list.  Jose Silviera enters the season tied for ninth with Chuk Moses (2016-2018), having stepped onto the pitch 37 times for Lourdes.  He is two appearances shy of Jose Cedillo's (2015-2017) mark for seventh in school history.  Brendon Long begins the year fifth all-time at Lourdes having made 34 career starts.  He is three starting assignments shy of matching Cedillo for fourth on the list.

In the Record Book: In just his first season, Darius Passley-Bennett moved into the top-10 on Lourdes career lists for goals and total points.  He is tied for fifth with seven career tallies while his 16 total points are seventh best as a Gray Wolf.

A Different Look This Season: Due to COVID-19, four schools in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference have opted to not play soccer this fall, moving all of their matches to the spring.  The remaining eight league schools will play a split season, competing in five WHAC matches in the fall and six in the spring.  The WHAC tournament and NAIA National Championships will also take place in the spring.

Looking for Back-to-Back Wins: Lourdes ended the 2019 season with a 1-0 victory at home against Siena Heights.  As the Gray Wolves begin 2020, they are looking to post back-to-back victories for the first time since winning three consecutive matches from Sept. 17-27, 2017.

Team Captains: Lourdes has tri-captains for the 2020 season.  Serving in the Gray Wolves' leadership role are seniors Savio Adams and Jose Silveira along with junior Cameron Poslaiko.  All three are first time captains for Lourdes.

This and That: Lourdes is 15-27-1 all-time on the road ... the Gray Wolves have never played a neutral site match in program history ... Lourdes is 2-7-5 all-time in overtime contests ... 65 different players have stepped onto the pitch for the Gray Wolves in the program's first five seasons.