CLAREMORE, Okla. – Rogers State men's soccer opens the 2023 season at home against Missouri S&T on Friday, Sept. 1.
 
Last season, the Hillcats capped off the year with their third trip in four tries to the GAC/MIAA Tournament Championship, finishing as runners-up to tournament champion Southern Nazarene. They spent three weeks inside the USC Top 25, climbing as high as No. 17. This season, the league's coaches picked them as the favorite to win their third conference championship since joining the league with seven of nine first place votes and 33 total points.
 
RSU returns 24 players from last year's squad and brings in 11 newcomers. The group of returners features eight of the 10 GAC/MIAA All-Conference honorees from last season, headlined by four First Team performers - George Robinson, Luke Morgan, Sebastian Hernandez and Declan Viljoen. Robinson led the team with six assists and 16 points. Morgan added three goals and three assists. Hernandez and Viljoen helped the Hillcats produce the top goals-against average in the league, 0.88, and tied for the lead with eight shutouts. Marcos Vasallo, the 2022 team's leader in goals, six, also returns.
 
The Hillcats will welcome Missouri S&T to Soldier Field for the 2023 season opener. The Miners finished the 2022 campaign with a trip to the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament for the first time since 2017 and came within 29 seconds of upsetting top-seeded Maryville in the opening round. S&T returns a majority of that squad in 2023, but will have a huge gap to fill as GLVC Offensive Player of the Year Jason Jorgensen graduated after scoring nine goals during the season.
 
In the two teams' only previous meeting, the Hillcats claimed a thrilling 2-1 victory over the Miners on the road last August. With the game headed towards a 1-1 draw with a minute left, Matthew O'Reilly was able to find the back of the net in the 89th minute to capture the win.
 
In the first match of the season for both sides, RSU and Missouri S&T will face off in the friendly confines of Soldier Field on Friday, Sept. 1. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.