BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State Billings men's soccer team returns home Saturday to host University of Mary in a non-conference match at 1 p.m., at Yellowjacket Field. The Yellowjackets stand a 3-1-1 on the year, while the Marauders are 0-5. In addition, Saturday's match is in conjunction with International Day at MSUB.
Saturday is a special day for MSUB men's soccer as the team has partnered with the MSUB Office of International Studies and Outreach to host the MSUB Men's Soccer International Day. Since five of MSUB's 52 International students are current men's soccer student-athletes, both groups thought this would be a great opportunity to recognize the multiple cultures on campus by highlighting students from different countries.
At halftime, spectators will have a chance to kick a ball and try and hit the crossbar in the Crossbar Challenge. The cost will be $1 per kick and the participants who hit the crossbar will receive a prize. In addition, there also will be a table with information about getting involved with International students and programs available on campus.
Admission to the game is free for current MSUB students with a valid school ID. General admission tickets are $5, while tickets for spectators ages 65 and over are $3. Current MSUB faculty and staff get into the game for $3, as well as children in seventh grade and higher. Children seventh grade and under are admitted free.
The five International student-athletes currently on the MSUB men's soccer team are: junior Peter Davies (London, England); freshman Nick Knowlman (Brisbane, Australia); sophomore Josh Marocchi (Perth, Western Australia); freshman Jak Purkiss (Retford, England) and sophomore Blair Stevenson (Edinburgh, Scotland).
In addition to these five student-athletes, Yellowjacket sixth year head men's soccer coach, Dan McNally is originally from Darwen, England. He is very proud of the support of the Office of International Studies and Outreach for men's soccer.
“Our International Students Department is a big supporter of our men's soccer team,” McNally said. “Over the last five years, we have had some outstanding International student-athletes play for MSUB. Being from England myself and a former International student-athlete, it is nice to see more and more International students attending MSUB.”
Leading the way for MSUB this season is senior Chris Andre and sophomore Thomas Sheets who each lead the team with two goals and five points. Freshman Tyler Currence also has two goals on the year. Andre set the school record for career assists versus Adams State Monday as he recorded a goal and an assist versus the Grizzlies in a 4-2 victory. It was his 19th career assist, breaking a tie with former Yellowjacket standout Sam Charles.
Andre also leads the team with 20 shots and has nine shots on goal. He also has scored on a penalty kick. Junior Garion Holian is second in shots with 18 and leads the team with 10 shots on goal to go along with one game winner. Sheets is third in shots with 17 and third in shots on goal with eight and a game winner.
Davies leads the team with three assists, while Andre, Sheets and Stevenson each have one.
Between the posts, the Yellowjackets are led by senior Matt Mitchell who has played all 470 minutes thus far. He is 3-1-1 on the year with six goals against and a 1.15 goals against average. He has 22 saves and a .786 save percentage with one shutout.
As a team, the Yellowjackets have scored eight goals with six assists for 22 points. MSUB has amassed 90 shots on the year with 42 on goal. Conversely, the opponents have tallied six goals with three assists for 15 points. The opposition has fired 53 shots with 28 on goal.
MSUB suffered its first defeat of the season Wednesday at Colorado State-Pueblo in 2-0 loss. The Yellowjackets outshot the ThunderWolves 18-13, but were unable to get a score. Holian led the way for MSUB with five shots and two on goal. Mitchell stopped five shots in the losing effort.
The Marauders have struggled this season, but have played three teams currently ranked in the NSCAA Top 25. The Marauders lost 1-0 in two overtimes to No. 18 Metro State, lost 4-1 to No. 3 Colorado Mines and lost twice to No. 22 Regis University 2-1 and 2-0.
Chris Stier and Matt Frost lead the way for the Marauders this season each with a goal. Jake Hawkins and Ryan Harper each have an assist. Stier leads the team with five shots and four on goal. As a team, the Marauders have tallied 29 shots and 12 on goal, while the opponents have score 10 goals, nine assists to go along with 111 shots and 43 on goal.
Billings native, Derek Luptak, leads the way for the Marauders in goal as he has played and started in three games and logged 280:04 minutes. He has a team-high 19 saves and a .760 percentage with a 1.93 goals against average. Michael Frenzel has played in three games with one start.
Fans can access live video and audio of the game by logging onto the new official home of Yellowjacket athletics at www.msubsports.com.
