UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) announced the 2024 Men's Soccer Preseason Poll on Wednesday (August 21) afternoon.
The Saginaw Valley State University men's soccer program placed third in the poll as they totaled 24 points and a first-place vote. They sit behind Parkside with 33 (4) and Purdue Northwest with 32 (2). The Cardinals are two points ahead of Davenport for fourth with St. Cloud State in fifth with 14 points. Northern Michigan and GLIAC newcomer Roosevelt are tied for sixth with 11 points.
The Cardinals are coming off a 4-8-6 season with a 2-5-3 conference record in 2023. They fell to Purdue Northwest in the GLIAC Championship 1-0. The team advanced on penalty kicks against both St. Cloud State and Parkside to make it to the finals.
The team returns some major pieces with nine seniors and five juniors. There are also seven returning sophomores with six incoming freshman and one graduate transfer to make up the seven new faces.
"We've got a lot of seniors, very senior heavy this year." Head coach Louis Barrow said. "We feel like we're mature, we're experienced, we've got a lot of age on our side this year and we're just trying to put it all together."
Jonny Monney returns after leading the team in goals with five, points with 10, shots with 29, and shots on goal with 16 in 2023. Alex Demorow enters his junior year and led the team with three assists as a sophomore defender last season. Forwards Mzo Mthembu and Jay Cameron along with midfielder Elliot Nottoli all had two goals and bolster the Cardinal offense. Felix Tom along with Mthembu both earned first team All-GLIAC awards in 2023 along with Demorow earning honorable mention.
Barrow enters his sixth year behind the helm and brings with him assistant coaches Joseph Terry and Robbie Bruce. Barrow holds a 49-20-17 overall record with a 34-12-11 GLIAC record as a head coach. He is 6-3-2 in the GLIAC tournament making it to the finals in 2022 and 2023. The team was GLIAC champions in 2022 where they failed to advance in penalty kicks against Lake Erie in the NCAA DII Super Region 3 Quarterfinal.
Men's soccer has six regular season home games this year. The team starts with four non-conference games with all of them on the road. They head to Gannon to start the season on Saturday, September 7. SVSU heads to Tiffin the following week to play the Dragons and a neutral site game against Northwood at Tiffin. The Cardinals wrap up non-conference play at Charleston – West Virigina on September 21. GLIAC play starts with the first two home games for Saginaw Valley. They host Davenport on Wednesday, September 25 and Roosevelt on Friday. In October, they host St. Cloud State, Northern Michigan, Purdue Northwest, and Parkside before ending the regular season at Roosevelt on November 3.
"The biggest message to the players is that we don't dodge anybody." Barrow said. "We're not scared of anybody. We're going to go wherever the road takes us and we're going to play against anybody in the country. We've got some fantastic games in the first four. We enjoy the hard part, and we enjoy being the road warriors."