The University of Illinois Springfield men's soccer team opens their 2023 season with a pair of home games at Kiwanis Stadium. The Prairie Stars face Saginaw Valley State at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, followed by a 12:00 p.m. match on Saturday against Davenport.
UIS
The Prairie Stars Men's Soccer team enters the year ranked 15th in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Poll. The team finished the 2022 season with a 7-4-8 record and a second consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament Third Round.
UIS returns two GLVC All-Conference selections in
Drew Keller and
Max Tweddle along with a flurry of new graduate students.
About Saginaw Valley State
SVSU enters the year ranked 16th in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Poll. The Cardinals finished the 2022 season with a 14-0-5 record but were eliminated in the NCAA Tournament Second Round on penalty kicks. They were consistently ranked top-10 nationally in the United Soccer Coaches Poll.
SVSU returns the reigning GLIAC Player of the Year and Region Player of the Year in Junior Jonathan Monney. In the 2022 season SVSU ranked 11th in NCAA Division II with 2.16 assists and 7.00 points per game. The Cardinals also were 12th in scoring offense at 2.42 goals per outing.
UIS vs. Saginaw Valley State History
The 2022 season was the first time the two schools have ever met with the Cardinals emerging victorious in an entertaining 5-3 contest in Michigan.
About Davenport
Davenport enters the year picked to finish 3rd in the GLIAC. The Panthers finished the 2022 season with an 8-8-3 record. In the GLIAC Tournament the Panthers defeated St. Cloud State and Wisconsin-Parkside on their way to the Championship but ultimately fell to SVSU.
Davenport returns graduate student Eoin Broughan who was named to All-GLIAC First Team and the United Soccer Coaches All-Midwest Region Third Team.
UIS vs. Davenport History
This will be the third consecutive year that the two schools have met with each winning once. In the 2021 season the Prairie Stars were victorious in a contest that featured three red cards shown, which finished 3-2 in Springfield. In the 2022 season the Panthers won 3-0 in Grand Rapids.
