LONGVIEW, Texas -- Men's soccer is almost back.
The LeTourneau men's soccer team is set to start its 53rd season and its second in the SCAC. Coming off a strong first season under head coach TJ Milby, the YellowJackets look to improve in their second year in the SCAC.
The YellowJackets kick off the season at home on Thursday against Howard Payne (7:30 p.m.).
Milby, in his second year as head coach, retained the majority of a squad that made a run to the semifinals of the SCAC tournament. Nine of the 11 starters from that team are returning, plus most of its key reserves. The YellowJackets look to get over the hump this year after winning at least one conference tournament game in each of the last two seasons.
THE TEAM
Overall, 21 players returned along with another large recruiting class for Milby.
Senior Caleb Nelson is coming off a three-goal, six-assist season. Nelson is joined by Leandro Ferreira, Bridge Mwambukiri, Elias Arreguin, Jeffrey Boedeker, Sammy Shmorgun, Marcos Gonzalez and Karsten Guerra as returners who tallied multiple goals last season. Starting goalkeeper Edson Camara Martinez also returns, coming off a 52-save season in which he posted a 0.788 save percentage, a 1.07 goals-against average, and a shutout in the SCAC tournament.
Nelson and Shmorgun garnered All-SCAC honorable mention selections last season. Shmorgun was also selected to the All-Freshman team along with Ferreira.
"I'm excited for what year two holds here at LeTourneau — I feel like last year was a good first step, and I'm excited to see us take more steps forward this fall," Milby said about his team's trajectory. "We've talked a lot as a team about the idea that we aren't okay with just being 'good.' Instead, we want excellence to be our standard."
On the backline, Shmorgun and Arreguin are joined by Kristian Princ, Joshua Van Wagener, and Kamden Karleskint, who were key starters and reserves in the defensive rotation last season. Seniors Abraham Gonzalez and Elliott Spangler are joined by Will Bertrand to round out the returning backs. Ari Collins, Julian Ibarra, and George Diefenderfer make up the freshmen class of defenders.
In the midfield, Ferreira, Nelson, and Mwambukiri are joined by returning rotation players Chris Garrett, Jaron Wilkerson, and Aidan Arcega, all of whom notched over 500 minutes last season. They are joined by juniors Zach Parris and Patrick Bauer in the midfield. The YellowJackets bolstered their midfield with six freshmen in the middle: Aaron Olguin, Ezequiel Romero, Angel Torres, Colton Chalker, Jacob Rohde, and Troy Ackerson.
LeTourneau returns three forwards from last season: Guerra, Marcos Gonzalez, and sophomore Boedeker.
Camara Martinez is joined in goal by junior Carson Gamble and two freshmen, Victor Velazquez and Leo Enriquez.
"I'm really excited about this incoming class; we've got a really hungry, gritty group of guys that fit our style of play," Milby said about this year's freshmen. "Already they've pushed and challenged returning players, have integrated into our culture, and I think they're going to help us continue to push on towards being one of the top teams in our region this year and the years to follow."
Nelson, Princ, Arcega, Karleskint, Abraham Gonzalez, Camara Martinez, Marcos Gonzalez, and Spangler make up this year's senior class.
SCAC OUTLOOK
LeTourneau was picked fifth in the SCAC men's soccer preseason poll, tying for the position with Austin College at 54 points.
Defending regular season champion Colorado College took the top spot in the poll with seven first-place votes, followed closely by SCAC tournament winner Texas Lutheran with the other three first-place votes. St. Thomas rounds out the top four, with Austin College and LeTourneau following close behind.
OPENING NIGHT
LeTourneau is opening its season Thursday evening (7:30 p.m.). It will be a blackout under the lights as the team debuts its new black jerseys.
There will be a t-shirt giveaway while supplies last. There will also be food trucks nearby during the game.
THE SCHEDULE
The YellowJackets start the year with back-to-back home matches as Schreiner comes to Longview on Sept. 5 to conclude the opening weekend.
A trip to Jackson, Miss., follows as LeTourneau plays at Belhaven (Sept. 10) and at Millsaps (Sept. 12). It will be the 12th straight year that LeTourneau and Belhaven have met, while it is the sixth straight year for LeTourneau and Millsaps to play.
After a home match with Texas College on Sept. 15, LeTourneau goes back on the road to Memphis, Tenn., on Sept. 18-20. The YellowJackets face Sewanee on Sept. 18 before taking on host Rhodes on Sept. 20. It will be the first meeting vs. Sewanee since 2021 and the first matchup with Rhodes since 2018.
The non-conference slate concludes with a trip to Southwestern on Sept. 24.
SCAC play begins on Oct. 2 at Texas Lutheran and on Oct. 4 at Concordia Texas. LeTourneau will have home conference matches with Hendrix (Oct. 9), Ozarks (Oct. 11), St. Thomas (Oct. 23), Centenary (Oct. 25), and Austin College (Oct. 30).
The SCAC Tournament is set for Nov. 5-8 in Round Rock, Texas, and will feature the top six teams in the 10-team league.
FOLLOW THE YELLOWJACKETS
Be sure to follow LeTourneau athletics all season long on letuathletics.com and social media at Facebook, Twitter/X and Instagram for up-to-date scores, news, and other information.
