SEASON PREVIEW: Men's Soccer readies for new season with new coach
ST. LOUIS, MO - The UHSP Men's Soccer team enters the new 2025 season looking to improve on what was a difficult campaign last year. The 2024 season was tough for the Eutectics in that head coach Dan Hogan was dealing with health concerns throughout the entire year, Grant Woodard was lost for the season with an injury in the third game of the season and a 1-15 mark was their worst record in five years.
There were some bright spots though for the Eutectics last season as well. Jacob Woodard capped off a tremendous career with a team-leading seven goals and finished as the UHSP all-time leader in goals with 35 and points with 76. The 18 goals the team scored on the year were fourth-most in UHSP history and the 129 saves by their keepers also ranked fourth all-time. UHSP also set a new single-game record scoring eight goals in an 8-1 rout of Mission on Oct. 5 while tallying six assists in that game which is also a new single-game mark.
Speaking of netminding, three different keepers saw time between the pipes for UHSP. Wyatt Taylor returns this year after a freshman season where he got valuable experience starting 14 of the 16 games for the Euts. He led the team with a 4.90 goals-against-average and featured a .646 save percentage.
The Eutectics bring back the bulk of their defense as Rishab Rajesh, Caden Grither, Pietro Martano, Keegan Croft, Schylar Srey and Christopher Taylor all return for the 2025 campaign.
One of the biggest changes heading into the new season is that Paul Anderson takes the reigns as head coach for the Eutectics. He spent last season as an assistant under Coach Hogan. Anderson was the head coach at Millikin University for three seasons prior to his arrival at UHSP and has tabbed Luis Dantas as his new assistant for 2025 to fill out his coaching roster. Coach Anderson discussed a number of topics leading up to the start of the new season including the change in his role as new head coach.
Q: How anxious are you to take over the reigns of this program as now the head coach?
A: Whenever you take over a program, you want to get started ASAP. The spring went well, and the expectation is that the fall will build on that.
Q: Do you anticipate playing a different style compared to Coach Hogan? What would that look like?
A: I have a very specific way of playing and the team will look different to last year. We will be looking to play with positive possession.
Q: What have you liked about your team so far based on what you've seen in practice and scrimmages?
A: I have liked how competitive we have been with each other in practices and how we played as a team in the scrimmages.
Q: Where do you turn for offense after the losses of Grant and Jacob Woodard?
A: When you lose you two highest points scorers in program history, you do not replace them. We will adjust and look to the collective to create and take chances.
Q: What did you make of Wyatt Taylor's freshman year in net and what do you expect from him this year?
A: Wyatt had a very good freshman year and learned a lot. I expect him to use that experience to help the team be better organized defensively.
Q: Who are some newcomers that you expect to see key contributions from?
A: We looked to strengthen the spine of the team. We have a keeper Christian Morales to challenge Wyatt, Caleb Schell to push Chris and Caden at center-back, Ben Herrera and Christian Santoyo to help in central midfield, Lionel Harerimana to create along the forward line and Rodrigo Melo to add creativity from the left side.
The Eutectics were selected sixth in the American Midwest Conference's Preseason Coaches Poll out of the seven clubs. They received 15 points to come in ahead of Mission and five points behind Central Baptist. Columbia was picked to finish first in the AMC receiving 34 points including four of the six first-place votes. Williams Baptist was two points behind the Cougars and took the other two first-place votes.
The Eutectics open the 2025 season on Saturday afternoon with a 1:00p kickoff at Evangel. Two days later, UHSP holds their home opener at the Creve Coeur Soccer Complex as they welcome Freed-Hardeman to town for a 3:00p start. Another change this season is within the American Midwest Conference as longtime members Missouri Baptist and William Woods both departed for the Heart of America Athletic Conference. The Eutectics' six-game AMC slate begins on Oct. 4 at Central Baptist.