North STL News

The University of Missouri-St. Louis men's soccer team has been projected to finish fifth in the 2025 Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Preseason Poll, according to results released Tuesday. The poll, which is determined by votes from the league's 15 head coaches, does not allow coaches to vote for their own teams.

Lewis University was selected as the favorite to win the conference again, narrowly surpassing McKendree University by two points. Lewis received 186 total points and seven first-place votes, while McKendree collected 184 points and six first-place votes. Maryville and UIndy followed in third and fourth place respectively, with each program receiving one first-place vote.

All 15 GLVC teams will play a 14-game round-robin schedule starting September 14 and concluding November 2. The postseason GLVC Championship Tournament is set to begin on either November 8 or November 9 at campus sites. Semifinal and final matches are scheduled for November 13 and November 15 at Creve Coeur Soccer Park in St. Louis.

Missouri-St. Louis enters the season after posting a record of 7-5-6 overall and a conference mark of 5-3-6 during the previous year. The Tritons ended last season with four consecutive regular-season wins, securing their first appearance in the GLVC Tournament since 2021 before falling to McKendree in the opening round. McKendree went on to represent the GLVC in the national semifinals of the NCAA Tournament.

The Tritons are led by head coach Josh Alderson, now entering his third year at the helm. The squad returns twelve players from last year's roster, including starters Gibson Hunt, Colton Milosch, Michael Quinn, and Mario Garcia. Hunt led returning players with two goals and three assists as a freshman last season; Roman Ryabchenko contributed one goal and three assists.

UMSL will start its 57th intercollegiate soccer season on Thursday, September 4 with an away match against Kentucky Wesleyan in Owensboro, Kentucky at 5 p.m. The team's home opener—and first conference game—will take place Sunday, September 14 against Drury at Don Dallas Field.

"The Tritons are coming off a 7-5-6 record including 5-3-6 in the GLVC in 2024," stated UMSL officials regarding last year's performance. "UMSL finished the season strong winning ifs final four regular season games to clinch a spot in the GLVC Tournament for the first time since 2021."

Below are this year's preseason poll rankings:

1st: Lewis (186 points/7 first-place votes)

2nd: McKendree (184/6)

3rd: Maryville (168/1)

4th: UIndy (167/1)

5th: Missouri-St. Louis (123)

6th: Drury (116)

7th: Rockhurst (114)

8th: Illinois Springfield (113)

9th: Lincoln (105)

10th: Missouri S&T (87)

11th: Quincy (59)

12th: Truman State (56)

13th: William Jewell (41)

14th: Upper Iowa (38)

15th: Southwest Baptist (18)