ANDERSON, S.C. – Michael Zion, head coach of the Anderson University men's soccer team, has released the 2023 schedule for the upcoming season.

The Trojans are coming off a 5-7-3 season in which they went 3-5-3 in conference play, finishing ninth in the standings. Anderson returns 18 players from a year ago, while adding 14 newcomers to the roster. Martin Carpena, Andres Osorio, Ben Lemen, Joao Martinho, and Yani Diagne are among the key graduates.

"We will be working to build and improve team chemistry from day one," said Zion. "I think the early stages of the season are about trying to reach that stage of consistently performing as a team and having the right chemistry is key."

Anderson will open the season with four consecutive road games, starting with a trip down to Miami to take on Barry University (Aug. 31) and Nova Southeastern (Sept. 2). Barry finished with a 12-4-4 record last year including a run to the NCAA National Championship, where they lost to Colorado State-Pueblo by a score of 1-0. Nova Southeastern entered last year's contest versus Anderson as the third ranked team in the nation, defeating Anderson 2-0. However, the Sharks finished with a 7-6-4 record while failing to reach the NCAA tournament. This is year two of the series, with the two schools facing each other at Spero Financial Field last season.

"We like challenges, and our Miami trip will certainly be one, but it will also be a great opportunity," said Zion. "I think our schedule and the fact that we want to play the best teams around says a lot about our mentality. These games will be a great test to help prepare us for the challenges of the SAC. If the goal is to be playing in late November, we will need to be able to compete with teams like these."

Following the trip to Miami, Anderson will travel to Jefferson City, Tennessee on Sept. 9 to take on Carson-Newman in the first SAC contest of 2023. The road trip concludes on Sept. 13 when the Trojans visit Dahlonega, Georgia to face North Georgia.

"Four games on the road certainly has its challenges," said Zion. "We will do our best to manage workloads and keep the team fresh for some big battles on the road. We are traveling to some great facilities though and I am sure our guys will be up for it."

Four of the next five matches are at Spero Financial Field, with Lincoln Memorial (Sept. 16), Lenoir-Rhyne (Sept. 20), Emory & Henry (Sept. 30), and Tusculum (Oct. 4), with Limestone (Sept. 27) being the only away match in the timespan.

The month of October consists of six matches, split between home and away. Tusculum (Oct. 4), Erskine (Oct. 14) which is the final non-conference opponent, and reigning league champion Wingate (Oct. 28) all visit the electric city. Away matches include Coker (Oct. 7), Mars Hill (Oct. 11), and Catawba (Oct. 21). The regular season concludes on Nov.1 with an away match at Newberry.

"We have a group of guys that want to compete for something," said Zion. "The goal is win the SAC. That's not going to change because we have a new group or a young team. I think it becomes slightly easier with experience and maturity, but we will approach the season the same as we always do…head on. We are excited about our new additions; I think this incoming group is very talented. I'm also excited about the group we have returning; this group has grown a lot over the past year and finished the spring season on a good note and set good foundation for this upcoming Fall. So, we are all looking forward to coming together and trying to create something special this fall."