CLEVELAND, Miss. -  The Delta State University Men's Soccer Program will start their season this weekend as they head to the Lone Star State to take on the Hilltoppers from St. Edward's University tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m. (CDT). DSU will follow that match with a trip to Laredo, Texas, to take on the Dustdevils from Texas A&M-International University on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. (CDT).
 
Both games will be streamed on the Flo College Network.
 
Scouting the Statesmen

• Delta State will enter this season picked seventh in the Preseason GSC Coaches' Poll. Last year the Statesmen finished with a 4-6-7 overall record, earning a seven seed in the GSC Postseason Tournament with a 3-4-4 GSC record.
• The Green and White will be returning some experience on the defensive side with senior defender Santiago Rossi earning Preseason All-GSC Honors. Rossi played in 16 games last season where he scored four goals and logged 1451 minutes as the center back.
• On the attack, Delta State returns forward Ryan Thistle. The Tupelo native led the Statesmen with 10 points on five goals scored during the 2024 season. In Goal Delta State will return Mason Baglio and Daniel Santema. Baglio Started all 17 games in goal for DSU as Santema will return after redshirting in 2024.

Scouting the Hilltoppers

• This will be the second year in a row that the Hilltoppers will open their season with the Statesmen. As the Statesmen won the home opener last year with the score of 1-0 at Delta Field.

•  Last year, the Hilltoppers finished with an 8-6-4 overall record on the season after finishing the 2024 season third in the Lone Star Conference postseason tournament with a 5-2-3 LSC record.
• The Hilltoppers are returning their star forward Arthur Souza back to the roster this year. The 2025 named LSC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year looks to have another big impact on the upcoming season. Last year, the graduate standout finished second in the LSC in goals scored with eight total, with three of which were game winners. He also logged 892 minutes of playing time as the Forward.

Scouting the Dust Devils

• This will be the second time ever that the Dust Devils will play the Statesmen. The Dust Devils won the previous meeting last year at Delta State with a score of 2-0.

• Texas A&M-International University finished its season last year with a 3-11-2 overall record and a 1-8-1 LSC conference record.
• Last year, the two Texas natives, Juniors Dereck Espinal and Byron Aguilar both led the Dust Devils with 4 goals each in the season.