SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - The University of San Francisco men's soccer team will begin their season this week by welcoming two teams to Negoesco Stadium. Starting off on Thursday evening, the Dons will face Utah Tech in their home opener before hosting Detroit Mercy on Sunday afternoon. 
 
GAME 1 INFORMATION:
Opponent: Utah Tech
Date: Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023
Time: 7:00 pm PST
Location: San Francisco, Calif.
Site: Negoesco Stadium
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Tickets: Purchase Here
 
GAME 2 INFORMATION:
Opponent: Detroit Mercy
Date: Sunday, Aug. 27, 2023
Time: 4:00 pm PST
Location: San Francisco, Calif.
Site: Negoesco Stadium
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Tickets: Purchase Here
 
DONS AT A GLANCE:

• Coming off of two big wins during their exhibition games at home last week, the Dons are looking to start off season play with the same successful energy under the leadership of Chris Brown as he enters his third year as head coach of this team.
• Starting this 2023 season with 20 players returning to the roster, the team is led by graduate student Max Hamelink, who was recently named to the All-WCC preseason team for his impressive debut season as a Don in 2022.
• Two more attacking assets returning to the team this year are senior Arjan Dosanjh and graduate student Max Chretien, who both recorded four goals in their 2022 campaigns.
• Joining the team this year with experience from the Pac-12 is graduate student Constantinos Michaelides, a forward who recorded at least one goal every season in his four years playing at UCLA. 
• Starting the season with a familiar face in the nets, redshirt junior Eric Waltz is preparing for another strong year after starting in 15 of the 16 games he appeared in last year, which included racking up 55 saves in total. 

• Utah Tech ended their WAC season with a record of 2-5-2, which saw them eighth place out of the ten teams in their conference. Overall, the Trail Blakers finished with nine goals scored from seven different players as they averaged a total of 7.4 shots per game last season.
• In the nets for the Trailblazers, Cuba Grant returns for his senior year after playing in three games last season and recording 8 saves on 27 shots faced.
• On the offensive side, sophomore Kyle Walbruch will be a threat as he recorded 4 points in his freshman campaign, second most on the team, as he totaled one goal and two assists. Notably, Walbruch appeared in 16 games total, which included six starts, as his primary role came off the bench to make a difference up top.
• In the backline, two key players returning to the team in sophomore Sacha Etienne-Courtois and Anthony Godinez. Both players recorded solid minutes in their freshman seasons as Etienne-Courtois tallied 1,133 minutes over 13 games played while Godinez logged 1,026 over 15 games played.  

• Facing two WCC opponents to start off their 2023 season, Detroit Mercy, members of the Horizon League, will take on fellow bay area opponent Saint Mary's this week before coming to USF.
• Last year the team finished in sixth place in the Horizon League, which included a record of 3-2-4 in conference play. As a team, the Titans totaled 19 goals over the course of the season from only different players.
• Leading the team as captain, graduate student Matthew Andres is likely to be an attacking asset once again for the Titans after appearing in 14 games last season and recording two goals.
• Offensively, another threat up top is sophomore Guershom Sylvain, who had a successful first year scoring two goals and recording two assists, which led him to be named to the 2022 Horizon League All-Freshman team.

• This will be San Francisco's first-time in program history facing both Utah Tech and Detroit Mercy.

SPONSOR THE DONS:

• The University of San Francisco Athletics Department would like to acknowledge and thank our primary sponsor - Nike - for their continued support of USF Athletics. Interested in sponsoring the Dons? Please contact Frank Allocco, the Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director of External Relations, at fallocco@usfca.edu or at (415) 422-4561. 

FOLLOW US:
For updates and more information on the San Francisco men's soccer program, be sure to follow @USFDonsMSoccer on Twitter, @USFDonsMenssoccer on Instagram and @USFDonsMSoccer on Facebook.