The St. Lawrence University men's soccer team, the winner of three of the last four Liberty League Championships, will open the 2023 season and will renew their title defense this Friday, September 1 when the Saints host SUNY Geneseo at Sandy MacAllaster Field. The Scarlet and Brown will cap the weekend with a matchup against No. 10 SUNY Cortland on Sunday afternoon.   

"The team has been working extremely hard to continue building on the strong foundations of the past few seasons," said head coach Mike Toshack "Everyone is committed to the team and has made training excellent with lots of competition. The players are determined to defend their Liberty League title and we all look forward to the start of the season."

Last season, the Scarlet and Brown won the Liberty League Championship for the second year in a row defeating Skidmore 3-1 at Sandy MacAllaster Field, and it was their third title in the last four seasons. The title was the 10th for the program since the league's inception in 2004. St. Lawrence doubled up by winning the Regular Season and Tournament Championship for the first time since the 2018 season, and for the fifth time overall.

With the automatic qualifier, the Scarlet and Brown went to the NCAA Tournament for the 24th time in program history, and for the fifth time under head coach Mike Toshack. The Scarlet and Brown advanced against Roger Williams University in the First Round before dropping a 4-2 decision to No. 6-ranked Amherst in the Second Round.

The Saints return 20 players from last year's Championship squad. Captaining the team is fifth year goalkeeper Ben Woelfinger, Michael McDougald, Sam Pijpers, Sam Peacock, and George Charalambous. Further leadership and championship pedigree will come from Kyle Graber and Ben Casner of the Class of 2024.

Pijpers returns as the highest-scoring returner after breaking out for 10 goals, three assists and 23 points last season, which was the second-best total on the team. Reigning Liberty League Rookie of the Year, Ryan Campbell, who scored six goals last year for the Saints is back on the wing along with junior Max Mogul, who also had 12 points on four goals and four assists.

In the woodwork, the Scarlet and Brown will once against turn to Woelfinger, who was named last year's Liberty League Defensive Player of the Year after posting a 12-2-4 record with nine clean sheets to go along with a career-best .90 goals against average and a .864 save percentage. Woelfinger was also named an All-Region III Second Team selection and was a member of the All-Liberty League First-Team. The goalkeeper has 243 career saves, 35 saves short of Sandy MacAllaster '78 for top-five in program history and has 17 career clean sheets which also trails MacAllaster in the top-five with 20.

Also returning to the squad this season is Will Baker, Coulter Delagran, Ben Lee, Aidan Fauth, Desmond Pratt, Owen Lillis, Connor Shea, Henry Hart, Jeremy Ogango, Myles Robinson, and Jackson Malary.

Toshack and the Saints have added nine first-years to the roster for the 2023 season. The Class of 2027 consists of Griffin MacGillivray, Nicholas Petrone, Henry Brown, Eric Edmonds, Gustav Scheibler, Dennis Argueta, Baker Diaz, and goalkeepers Evan Widrick and Parker Sinclair, who will be relied upon early in their careers as the Scarlet and Brown defend their title.

Following the opening weekend, the Saints will head to Oneonta, N.Y. to take on Hartwick and No. 15 SUNY Oneonta, before heading back to take on SUNY Potsdam and Canton. The Scarlet and Brown will open Liberty League play on Laurentian weekend on Sept. 23 and will head into the month-long stretch run until Senior Day against Skidmore on Oct. 21. The team will wrap up the year with a non-conference game at Plattsburgh State before finishing the regular season at Hobart on Oct. 28.   

Follow the links to check out the Saints' latest news, roster, and schedule for the upcoming season. Can't make it out to Sandy MacAllaster Field this season? Follow along with all games on live stats or video, linked on our schedule page.