Men's Soccer Travels to Colorado for Season Opener

08.30.2023 | By: Alek Child (Alek.Child@LCU.edu)

LUBBOCK, Texas – The Lubbock Christian University men's soccer program is set to begin the 2023 season on Thursday against Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colo.

Lubbock Christian (0-0-0) vs Fort Lewis (0-0-0)
Thursday, Aug. 31 – 8 PM
Dirks Field – Durango, Colo.

CHAPARRAL HEADERS

Lubbock Christian's 2023 schedule features 17 total games. They will play nine at home and eight on the road.
The Chaps ended the 2022 season with a sour taste in their mouths, going 0-3-1 in their final four games. Including, losing a two-overtime thriller to Oklahoma Christian in the LSC Conference Tournament.
LCU returns seven starters from last year's team. Including, leading goal scorer Pablo Galietero Diez and primary goalkeeper Tom Miles.
This is the third straight season the Chaps open the season with Fort Lewis and Adams State. LCU routed the Grizzlies 6-1 to open the 2022 campaign and had a 0-0 draw against the Skyhawks two days later.
The Chap's are 7-6 all-time in season openers.

A LOOK BACK

The Chaps finished with a 7-8-4 record in their first season under Head Coach Collin Cone. LCU outscored their opponents 25-23 and recorded six shutouts. They entered the LSC Conference Tournament as the four seed, falling to the fifth seed Oklahoma Christian 2-1 in double overtime. The Chaparral offense averaged 1.32 goals per game while allowing 1.21.
Pablo Galietero Diez earned a trio of post season awards in 2022, including Second Team All-Region, LSC First Team All-Conference, and LSC All-Tournament Team.

FURTHER BACK

The Lubbock Christian men's soccer program began in 2010 with a 3-1 win against the University of the Southwest (N.M.). On Nov. 9, 2021, in the opening round of the LSC Tournament, the Chaps won their 100th match in program history, rolling over UT Permian Basin 6-0. The Chap program enters the 2023 season with an overall record of 108-89-27.

IN COLORFUL COLORADO

LCU has played 14 games in program history within the state of Colorado, going 5-9-0 there all time. The first-ever Chaparral trip to the Centennial State was a successful one, as they beat Colorado Christian 5-1 behind a hat trick from Mbongeni Ndlovu on Sept. 11, 2015. They also beat Adams State 2-1 on that 2015 trip.
Last season, the Chaps went 1-3 in the Centennial State falling 2-0 to Metropolitan State of Denver, 3-1 to UC Colorado Springs, 1-0 to CSU Pueblo, while defeating South Dakota Mines 4-0.

NEW YEAR, NEW TEAM

LCU will feature 17 new players on the 2023 roster. Of those new players, four are true freshman, while the other 13 are transfers from either the junior college ranks or other universities. It is a diverse group, with six players from Texas, three from England, two from Italy, two from Spain, and the rest from France and Botswana internationally, along with new faces from Colorado and Arizona in the states.

YEAR TWO OF THE CONE ERA

The 2023 season marks the second year under head coach Collin Cone. He looks to improve on a 7-8-4 record in 2022. Collin Cone was hired as the Head Men's Soccer Coach at Lubbock Christian University in April of 2022, coming to LCU after leading the men's soccer team at LeTourneau University for four seasons. He posted back-to-back winning records in 2021 and the 2020-21 season, and had the team improve in every year he was the head coach. The YellowJackets 6-5 showing in the 2020-21 season was the program's first winning season since 2010.

PRESEASON POLL AND PLAYERS TO WATCH

The Chaps were picked to finish sixth in the LSC preseason poll after finishing fourth in the conference standings a season ago.
Along with the preseason poll the LSC announced an offensive, defensive, and goalkeeper to watch on each team throughout the season. For the Chaps Pablo Galietero Diez and Jelle Born were the offensive and defensive representatives, respectively. And Tom Miles was picked as the goalkeeper.

SCOUTING THE SKYHAWKS

Fort Lewis was predicted to finish in the bottom third in the RMAC preseason poll. The Skyhawks earned 31 points for a ninth-place prognostication.
David Oberholtzer is going into his eighth season as head coach of the Skyhawks. He has an overall record of 56-48-15 during his tenure at Fort Lewis.
Last season the Skyhawks finished with a 4-11-2 overall record and a 3-7 conference record.
The Skyhawks return their two top goal scorers from a season ago. Gabe Legendre led the team with seven and Loic Jean-Baptiste recorded six.
Fort Lewis also returns assist leader Tomas Duenes and goalkeeper Evan Kowalski.

THE SERIES WITH FORT LEWIS

This will be the third meeting all-time between Lubbock Christian and Fort Lewis, with the Skyhawks holding a 1-0-1 series record. Fort Lewis has outscored LCU 3-1 all-time.
Last season's game was played in Lubbock and ended in a 0-0 draw.

A WIN WOULD