Photo courtesy of Eric Decker.

Complete PDF Notes
Upcoming in Gray Wolves Soccer: After winning its season opener for the fifth time in seven seasons, Lourdes continues its five-match road trip to begin the 2021 season on Wednesday evening, as the Gray Wolves head to Centerville, Ind. to battle Indiana East.

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 91-104-9 (.468) record overall in his 11th season as a men's collegiate soccer coach and has a 16-20-1 (.446) mark in his second year at Lourdes.

Series Notes: Lourdes leads the all-time series against Indiana East 2-1-1 dating back to Aug. 28, 2017.  The Gray Wolves won the last meeting between the two schools on Feb. 24, 2021 indoors in Rossford, Ohio by a score of 3-2.  In the only previous contest in Centerville, Ind., Lourdes came away with a 1-0 triumph during the 2018 season.

Wrapping Up Last Week: Lourdes opened the 2021 season on Saturday (Aug. 21) with a 3-1 victory on the road at Olivet Nazarene.  Leon Eisert scored twice, once in the 10th minute and an insurance tally in the 82nd minute), while Hussein Sbeiti tallied what proved to be the match-winner in the 65th minute.  Igor Silva made three saves in goal for the Gray Wolves in the win.

Scouting Indiana East: The Red Wolves began their 2021 campaign on Saturday (Aug. 21) with a 1-1 draw against Goshen at home.  Tristan Thomas put Indiana East in front with an 11th-minute goal, which was unassisted.  Goshen tied the contest in the 65th minute.  Peter Lamprou made eight saves in goal for Indiana East in 65 minutes of action while Alex Visscher made three stops over the final 45 minutes, including the two overtime periods.

Longest Road Trip in Program History: Lourdes opens the 2021 regular season with five consecutive matches away from home, the longest road trip in program history.  The Gray Wolves previously played four consecutive road contests from Oct. 7-18, 2017, dropping all four matches played during the trip.

Facing the RSC: Lourdes has had a great deal of success in its previous seven matches against current members of the River States Conference, posting a 4-2-1 record.  In addition to the 2-1-1 mark against Indiana East, the Gray Wolves have defeated both Ohio Christian and Point Park.  The only other loss to a RSC member came against Rio Grande.

A Quality First Career Start: Igor Silva made his first collegiate start in goal for the Gray Wolves on Saturday against Olivet Nazarene.  He faced 14 total shot attempts from the Tiger offense, but only four were on goal.  Silva made three saves, the first three stops of his career, while playing all 90 minutes.  Prior to the match, Silva had played eight seconds total in his career between the posts.

Eisert's First Career Multi-Goal Match: Leon Eisert entered play on Saturday with one career goal for the Gray Wolves over the nine matches in which he appeared last season.  Eisert found the back of the net twice in the win over Olivet Nazarene, giving him a quick four points to start the season and increasing his career point total to 10.

Making the Most of His Goals: Hussein Sbeiti tallied the match-winning goal for the Gray Wolves on Saturday, his second career goal overall.  Both tallies have been match-winners for Sbeiti, who also had the match-winning goal at Cleary on March 25, 2021.

Lending a Helping Foot: Farouk Amoo, Andris Klempert, and Darius Passley-Bennett all had assists for Lourdes in the season-opening victory.  Amoo's helper was the sixth of his career, moving him into a tie with Adilson Darosa (2015, 2017) for fourth place on the Gray Wolves' career assist list.  Klempert's assist was the fifth of his career, moving him into a five-way tie for sixth on the school's all-time chart.  Passley-Bennett's assists was the third of his career, ad first since the 2019 season.

Collegiate Debuts: Austin Gibbons was the only Gray Wolf to make his collegiate debut in the season opener against Olivet Nazarene.  The freshman came off the bench and recorded one shot attempt.

Lots of Experience: Olawole Ogunsanya enters the week as the school record holder for matches played, having appeared in 61 contests over his first four years with the Gray Wolves.  Jose Silveira ranks third all-time at Lourdes with 55 appearances, two behind second place Reece Riccardi (2016-2019).  Robert Pereznegron enters the week fifth on the all-time list with 50 career matches played.  Pereznegron also is fourth all-time with 40 career starts, just one behind Judah Goodridge (2015-2017) for third on the career list.

In the Record Books: Farouk Amoo is tied with Reece Riccardi (2016-2019) for third all-time at Lourdes with 10 career goals.  He is nine goals behind second place Judah Goodridge (2015-2017).  Amoo is also third with 26 career points, 17 behind Goodridge for second.  Savio Adams ranks third on the career assist list with seven, two in back of second place Akilla Arno (2015-2017).  Adams is also tied with Brendon Long (2018-2020) for fifth with 21 career points.

Gray Wolves Tabbed Fifth in WHAC Preseason Poll: Lourdes was selected to finish in fifth place in the WHAC this season in the preseason poll conducted of the league's head coaches.  The Gray Wolves were picked just behind fourth place Madonna.  Indiana Tech was the unanimous selection to win the league crown.

A Return to "Normal": After having the 2020 season split between the fall and spring, the men's soccer schedule returns to the fall entirely in 2021.  The Gray Wolves have 18 regular season matches on the slate this year, including eight at home at Wildcat Stadium.

This and That: Lourdes has a 37-58-6 all-time record ... the Gray Wolves are 21-31-1 all-time on the road ... eight of Lourdes 14 shot attempts in the season opener were on goal.