Saint Francis Men's Soccer Set To Open Season At Xavier Thursday Evening

Men's Soccer | 8/20/2025 12:13:00 PM

OPENING PITCH
Saint Francis opens the third season under head coach Mads Kaiser with the first-ever meeting against Xavier on Thursday evening. It will be the eighth time Saint Francis opens the season against a big conference school, and the first since ending in a scoreless draw against North Carolina State in 2011. The squad has also played its inaugural game of the season against Penn State (1998, 2009), Pittsburgh (1999), West Virginia (2000), and Michigan State (2004, 2008).

AGAINST THE BIG DOGS
Along with playing Xavier, Saint Francis will play at Maryland on September 1. Head coach Mads Kaiser will face a Big Conference school for the second and third time as a head coach after traveling to No. 3 West Virginia last season. The game against the Mountaineers ended the Red Flash's 16-game unbeaten streak.

THE WORD ON XAVIER
This will also be the season opener for the Musketeers, who finished last season 4-8-5. Jonny Mennell returns in the net after starting all 17 games with 46 saves, a 1.06 goals against average and a .719 save percentage. Saint Francis and Xavier will also meet in Cincinnati for men's and women's basketball this season.

NEXT TIME OUT
Saint Francis returns to action with its home opener against St. Bonaventure on September 4. The Bonnies were also the Red Flash's home opener in 2021.

PRESEASON POLL
Saint Francis men's soccer was picked fifth in the NEC Preseason Poll. Mercyhurst, which won the NEC regular season, and LIU, which won the NEC Tournament, have been selected as co-preseason favorites after LIU earned three first-place votes and Mercyhurst garnered five. FDU picked up the remaining two top votes, while Le Moyne, Saint Francis, Stonehill, New Haven, Howard, Chicago State, and CCSU rounded out the poll. Mercyhurst and New Haven are both ineligible for the postseason.

INTERNATIONAL FLARE

Head coach Mads Kaiser has nine players that have come from outside the United States: Volkan Celikkol (Turkey), Alex De Nittis (Germany), Harry Elmore (England), Alejandro Escobar (Columbia), Diego Garciarena (Paraguay), Álvaro Planas (Spain), Julian Quiroga (Bolivia), Harvey Skurek (England), Mika Wernicke (Germany) and Jonah Wolf (Germany).

ABOUT THE COACH
Mads Kaiser begins his third season as the Red Flash men's soccer head coach. In his first season, Saint Francis was the only NCAA Division I team to finish undefeated with a 7-0-8 record and won the NEC regular season. Saint Francis is 14-7-10 overall and 10-2-3 in NEC play. The Red Flash hosted an NEC Semifinals Game in his first two years. He was an assistant in Loretto for two seasons prior to his elevation as head coach.

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