GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Davenport University men's soccer remains at No. 7 in the NCAA Division II Midwest Region Poll ahead of GLIAC play after closing non-conference action last week with a loss on the road and a victory in the home opener. 

The Panthers dropped a 1-0 decision at Missouri S&T but rebounded in a momentum-boosting win against Lake Erie, finishing 2-1 in DU's first home match this year. 

Jacob Lee saw his first-ever collegiate minutes, making a save through 71 minutes played in goal. Andrew Dykstra tallied two goals in the win for his first scores of 2024, bringing his career total to nine overall and placing him at No. 10 in the GLIAC individual leaderboards. The goals also increased the team's season total to 10 for the conference's second-most thus far.

Slated for a mid-week road contest and a first-time matchup to close the weekend, DU will look to improve its 3-2-1 record.

SVSU Matchup
Saginaw Valley State leads the all-time series 13-5-3 overall against the Panthers, as last season saw DU take the only victory (2-0) in a home win to finish the 2023 series at 1-0-1. The Cardinals will be a good test to prepare for a tough conference as SVSU comes into the week at No. 13 in the NCAA DII National Rankings.

The most recent matchup at No. 6 Charleston saw the Cardinals lose their first match of 2024 for a current overall record of 4-1. Two of their four victories came on the road against then-No. 7 Gannon (1-0) and then-No. 11 Tiffin (3-2) to set an early tone. 

SVSU's Nick Kay has started and played all 360 minutes in goal while making 17 saves and allowing just five goals, including the shutout against Gannon on Sept. 7. Mzo Mthembu leads the offensive attack this season with four goals, with one goal each for Jayden Cameron, Alberto Herranz, Sheikh Manneh, Jonny Monney, and Matty Telfer.

Falling short of the 2023 GLIAC Tournament title after losing to Purdue Northwest, 1-0, the Cardinals were ranked No. 3 in the GLIAC Preseason Poll while receiving one first-place vote.

Roosevelt Matchup
The Lakers joined the conference ahead of this season as a former member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), finishing their final season with an 11-6-2 record. Roosevelt nearly earned a berth in the NAIA National Tournament, but losing the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) Tournament cut their title chances short.

Oskar Schuster is at the top of the team leaderboards for goals (two) as seven other players have logged a goal for Roosevelt's inaugural season at the NCAA DII level; including First Team All-CCAC honoree, Gabriel Koenig, and Second Team All-Conference selection, Noah Vasilev. Defensively, Eric Carvajal has started and played in all matches at goalkeeper, posting five saves and allowing five goals thus far.

Roosevelt enters GLIAC play for the first time with the conference opener at Saginaw Valley, and traveling to DU on Sept. 29 for the first-time matchup between the Panthers and Lakers.

Live Coverage
Wednesday, Sept. 25 at SVSU (1 PM) - Live Video (FloSports) - Live Stats
Sunday, Sept. 29 vs Roosevelt (2 PM) - Live Video (FloSports) - Live Stats