The Marshall University men’s soccer team added 14 newcomers to the roster for the upcoming 2019 season. Head Coach Chris Grassie said he has great expectations for the season ahead. 

“We have a great group of players returning,” Grassie said. “We’ve added some real quality. My expectations are that we play great, entertaining soccer, and we are able to dominate most of the matches we play in.”

The 14 newcomers come from all over the world, but two are coming from close to home. Kyle Winquist and Dan Edwards are transferring back to play with the Herd. 

“It just goes to show what a special place Marshall is,” Grassie said. 

Max Schneider is coming from Bayer Leverkusen in Germany, and Demarre Montoute will be joining the team from Canada. 

Four Brazilians will be added to the team; these include winger Joan Pedro Souza, center forward Bleno Cruz, forward Victor Orsi and goal keeper Gabe Sitler, who currently resides in South Carolina. 

There are three players coming from Vardar Academy in Michigan; these include midfielder Ali Nader, winger Sanad Yahya and left-back Ryan Gray. 

Midfielder Jacob Adams, defenders Adam Lubell and Hunter Shanks will also be contributing factors to the team. 

The Herd’s season will open with an exhibition game versus West Virginia Tech at Hoops Family Field on Aug. 18. The team will face Purdue Fort Wayne, UNC Ashville and Northern Kentucky before heading home to face Butler in the opening regular season game on Sept. 6. 

ETSU, South Carolina, Texas Rio Grande Valley and Akron are four straight home games for the Herd. They will start conference play on the road versus Old Dominion on Sept. 27. 

The Herd will face Dayton on Oct. 1 and UAB on Oct. 5 at Hoops Family Field. They will hit the road for Charlotte, Loyola Marymount, San Diego State, Wright State, FAU and Oakland. 

The team will return home for one last home game versus Kentucky on Nov. 3. They will end the regular season on the road against FIU. 

“We all have equal shares in this season,” Grassie said. “We like to spread the power to succeed around the group. A soccer match is a puzzle to be solved. The more voices and viewpoints we have looking at the problem, the more likely we are to find a solution.”

Sydney Shelton can be contacted at [email protected].