MARSHALL, Texas – With two preseason matches out of the way, the East Texas Baptist University men's soccer team starts their 2018 regular season under third-year head coach Chris Crawford on Saturday vs. Schreiner University. Looking to improve on last season which saw six wins, ETBU will push for a spot in the American Southwest Conference tournament this year. In the preseason poll for the American Southwest Conference, ETBU is predicted to finish ninth on the season with 113 points. 

ETBU returns 16 players from 2017, including Bryant Botello, Daniel Rutter, Travis Atkinson, and Silas Sangano. Botello played in 16 games in goal collecting a 1.55 goals against average and picking up 61 saves. In 13 games, Rutter finished with three goals on 14 shots. This included a two-goal game against Howard Payne (Sep. 25, 2017). Atkinson appeared in 16 games delivering four shots and keying ETBU's defense in a 1-0 shutout win against Howard Payne (Oct. 26, 2017). Sangano was ETBU's leading scorer with seven points (three goals, one assist) on 19 total shots. This included a two-goal game at Millsaps (Sep. 26, 2017).

ETBU starts the season vs. Schreiner on Saturday, Sept. 1, at 4:00 p.m.. All-time, ETBU is 9-3-1 against the Mountaineers. Last year, ETBU fell in Kerrville, 1-0. Then on Monday, ETBU will host Murray State College. This will be the first meeting all-time between the two schools.

For Coach Crawford, the beginning of a new season is always a special time for excitement to see how the hard work in the offseason pays off. He says,"For me, I'm excited. I know the guys have put in a lot of work just building the foundation. This year, we added eleven new freshmen and we've tested them the last few weeks with two-a-days and scrimmages. So the excitement for the team, they're all ready to go. They're pumped. The guys are ready for real action."

Both Saturday and Monday's games start at 4:00 PM.