CLEVELAND, Miss. – The Delta State University men's soccer team will begin its 12
th season on Thursday, Sept. 3 when it hosts the University of Montevallo. Kickoff at Delta Field is scheduled for 4 p.m.
INSIDE THE SERIES: DSU is 0-6 all-time versus the Falcons. The Statesmen dropped a 2-0 decision at Montevallo to open the 2014 campaign.
SEASON OPENERS: The Statesmen have yet to claim a victory in their previous 11 season opening contests. DSU has dropped a pair of one-goal decisions in season-openers, with the latest coming in a 1-0 setback to open the 2013 campaign at Spring Hill.
A LOT OF VETERANS: DSU returns 20 players, including 11 seniors, from its 2014 edition that advanced to the second Gulf South Conference Tournament in school history.
The Statesmen, who finished 2014 7-10, with a 4-5 mark in GSC contests, return eight players who started in 10 or more matches, including 87 percent of their goal production.
ALL GSC PERFORMERS: Three current Statesmen have been named All-GSC during their careers. Senior midfielder
Amine Rahmani, who was named Preseason First Team All-GSC, has also been named All-GSC following each of his three seasons.
Senior midfielder
Daniel Deblaere was named Second Team All-GSC following his junior campaign in 2012, in which he led the league with eight assists.
Rounding out the list is sophomore defender
Pedro Verissimo, who was named Second Team All-GSC in 2014.
THE COACH: After serving one year as interim head coach,
Andy Robertson was named head coach on Nov. 6, 2014.
Robertson is in his fourth season with the program after spending one year as a graduate assistant coach for Nick Glaser and one season under Matt Watts.
In Robertson's first season, the Statesmen finished the year 7-10 with a sixth place finish in the Gulf South Conference standings. DSU's 4-5 mark put the Statesmen into the GSC Tournament for just the second time in school history. The season saw seven losses decided by a single goal, including three in overtime.,
UP NEXT: The Statesmen are scheduled for a trip to Clinton, Miss., for a neutral site contest versus Sunshine State Conference foe Nova Southeastern University. The only meeting between the schools was a 6-0 victory by the Sharks on Sept. 4, 2005.
