GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. - The Mavericks men's soccer team will kick off the 2019 season Thursday night against Eastern New Mexico at 7 pm on Walker Field. This year the Mavs are under the direction of new head coach Andrew Conniff who will be making his debut as the Mavs head coach.
As a part of the Doubletree Shootout, the Mavericks will play in another home game this weekend. On Sunday the Mavs will play Newman University at 11 am.
Head coach Andrew Conniff sat down with Peter Vandamn and Niall Shaffery to discuss this upcoming week. To watch Tuesday's press conference click the link provided above.
The Mavericks enter these matches ranked No. 17 by the United Soccer Coaches Association Preseason Poll.
The Mavericks are retuning two of their five United Coaches All-Region honorees from last season. Lawan Abary and Vandam each earned second team honors a season ago. Abary was the Mavericks leading goal scorer with 14 goals. As a midfielder Vandam recorded one goal and helped the Mavericks to their fifth straight NCAA appearance as he played in every game.
About Eastern New Mexico
The Greyhound's roster has a heavy international influence, as 12 of the 16 newcomers are from overseas. The Greyhounds are returning a strong player to their centerline as Gebriel Peres is coming off a D2CCAA All-South Central Regional honoree season.
Last season the Mavericks defeated ENMU 2-1 in overtime. Chris Boyd scored the game winning goal four minutes into overtime.
Last season the Greyhounds ended their year with a 8-8-2 record.
The Mavericks and Greyhounds hold a 1-1-1 overall record with the Mavs losing in 2008, tying in 2016, and defeating them for the first time in 2018.
About Newman University
The Jets were picked to finish this season fourth in the MIAA/GAC Conference preseason poll after finishing last season with an 11-8-1 record.
The Mavericks own a 1-0 all-time record against the Jets. The last time these two teams met was in 2017 when the Mavericks defeated them 1-0 in overtime.
Up Next
The Mavs will travel to Napa, Idaho to play Northwest Nazarene University on September 14 at 11 am. After this the RMAC season will begin at Walker Field when the Mavs play Fort Lewis College and CSU-Pueblo on September 20 and 22.
