The Francis Marion University men's soccer team will open its 2023 season on Saturday (Sept. 2) when the Patriot entertain Shaw University for a 7 p.m. match on Hartzler Field.

Admission to the match is $10 for adults and $5 for students, with FMU students admitted free with their ID.

Fifth-year head coach Luis Rincon welcomes back 15 lettermen, including six starters, from last year's 8-6-5 squad that went 6-2-3 in conference play to finish tied for second. FMU fell to Converse University 1-0 in the conference tournament championship match.

The Patriots have been picked to finish second in the 2023 Conference Carolinas Men's Soccer Preseason Coaches' Poll, behind only Converse.

"As a program, we are ready to start the season," Rincon said.  "We have had a good pre-season, we are healthy, and I am thrilled about this group of student-athletes.

"We have a good core of returnees and a large group of newcomers that are part of our future plans or those that will make an immediate impact depending on the needs that we recruited then to fill.  Among the newcomers, the transfers have fit in well.  It is our goal when bringing in transfers that we know what they can add and what their play will be like.

"We have played three scrimmages against tough opponents, and those contests have given us an idea of where we stand. The larger squad gives us more depth and options this season and contributes to more competition.  This is my fifth season, so I feel as though this is the culmination of putting pieces in place and building toward a goal.  We are a solid group in all areas. 

"The key to us winning is developing a mentality that allows players to forget the past.  This is a new season, look forward, open a new chapter, and accomplish what we need to do to be successful today.  Our goal is to concede less goals this season, and thus have a better chance of winning every match.  Our goal is a clean sheet every time out, and to average allowing only 0.50 goals per match for the season."

Among the key Patriot returnees is graduate student midfielder Hugo Jonsson, an All-Tournament Team selection last year who scored twice and led the team with five assists, and senior defender Sebastian Garcia, a two-time All-Conference selection that helped the Patriots surrender only 19 goals in 19 matches last season. 

Senior forward Jose Curvelo is the leading returning scorer as he tallied four goals and one assists in only 13 matches.  Senior forward Jhancarlo Palma (3 goals, 2 assists) and senior midfielder Luis Villarreal (2 goals, 4 assists) also both return. Senior defender Wendel Lima returns after missing all of last season with an injury.

Rincon has four new goalkeepers to choose from during the 2023 campaign:  juniors Lukas O'Grady and Felipe Ramos Peralta and freshmen Angelo Montoya and Gabriel Fernandez.  "Even 24 hours before the first match, I am not certain who we will start.  Both O'Grady and Ramos Peralta bring experience, while Montoya is young and talented."  O'Grady previously played at Merrimack College and USC Upstate, while Ramos Peralta is a product of Barton Community College and played with a good academy program in Chile.

Garcia and Lima will anchor the backline in front of the goal.  Jonsson will move to a more defensive position, and Rincon also pointed to newcomers David Guevara and Max Bisinger as two who will play major roles in the defensive half.  Bisinger was an honorable mention All-American at Concordia University (Neb.).

In the midfield, the coach said that a group of five newcomers will play major roles:  graduate students Mario Buelga and Philipp Worner, senior Vicente Arratia Veit, junior Andre Sabino, and freshman Camilo Salazar.  "All of these players are capable of making that connection from our defense to the forwards."   Arratia Veit played four seasons at the University of Alabama Huntsville, and earned All-Region accolades once, while Sabino erecorded 11 assists in two seasons at NAIA power Bethel University.

Up front at the forward spots, Curvelo, Palma and returning junior Miguel Bello will be joined by newcomers Edorta Cabieces and Rafael Silverio as team members Rincon will look at to put the ball in the net.  Cabieces was a second-team All-Region selection and tallied seven goals at the University of Montavello, while Silverio led the NJCAA with nine game-winning goals last season as his Morton College squad went 19-1-1 and appeared in the NJCAA Division II title match.

Following Saturday's match, FMU will open conference play on Sept. 8 when the Patriots host Erskine College for a 7 p.m. match.  The Patriots' 17-match schedule includes 10 home contests on Hartzler Field, where FMU has won 26 of its last 41 matches.

The first two rounds of the conference tournament will take place on campus sites at the higher seeds on Nov. 1 and 4, while the semifinals and championship contests on Nov. 10 and 12 respectively, will be played at Bryan Park in Browns Summit, N.C. 

Rincon enters his eighth year as a college head coach only five wins shy of 100 with a 95-42-19 career mark.