BILLINGS, Mont. – For the first time in more than 15 months the Montana State University Billings men's soccer team will take to the pitch, with a pair of road matches this week to kick off the 2021 spring season.
 
The Yellowjackets will play crosstown rival Rocky Mountain College twice this week, with matches scheduled for 2 p.m. on Wednesday and noon on Saturday at Herb Klindt Field. Live coverage for the games will be available online here. Fans are not allowed in attendance at this week's games. "It is definitely exciting for our players and coaching staff to have those emotions back, and have the adrenaline in our blood before the first game," said Yellowjacket head coach Thomas Chameraud. "The guys are all anxious and excited to play, and we are really looking forward to Wednesday."
 
The teams were initially scheduled to play on Feb. 17 but had to postpone the match due to inclement weather. A subsequent contest against Carroll College was canceled for COVID-19 related reasons, as the Yellowjacket men have twice had their long-awaited season debut pushed back this month. "The last time we played was the fall of 2019, so it has been more than a year," said senior captain Luca Battistotti. "We are really excited. It was really hard in the fall because all we want is to play, but we tried to think about the positives which were that we could practice and prepare for this season."
 
The 'Jackets and Battlin' Bears are scheduled to meet again on March 11, with a 7 p.m. kickoff at Herb Klindt Field. Also on the calendar for MSUB this spring are scrimmages against Laramie Community College on March 21 and at Casper College on March 27, as well as a road match at Carroll College on April 11.
 
With the 2020 fall season being canceled by the coronavirus pandemic, MSUB's last season on the pitch was the 2019 campaign during which the team went 8-9-2 overall and finished 5-6-1 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play to take fourth place. "We have tried to do our best to make it work for everyone," Chameraud commented on the challenge of having the fall season canceled. "We have been practicing in groups for a while, and really haven't had the chance to practice as a team. As a coaching staff we don't expect perfect things on Wednesday, but it will be very important for us to have that mentality of a blue-collar, hard-working team."
 
In his fourth season in the program and third as captain, Battistotti is at the helm of an experienced leadership group as MSUB's roster contains 12 upperclassmen. Battistotti has started 55 matches in his first three seasons in the program playing primarily on the back line, and was a second-team all-conference selection a season ago. "First of all I think we should focus on what we always work on in practice, and the chemistry of the team," Battistotti said when asked about what his hopes for the spring season were. "We have a lot of new guys, so we have to really work together. Basically we are taking this spring like a preseason for the fall of '21. Of course we have to take all the games seriously and try to win all of them, and it will be a good test in order to get ready for the fall."
 
The senior class for the Yellowjackets also features fourth-year senior Shantik Bedrosian, returners Paul Cuevas and Noah Runsvold, and newcomer Brad Lowes. Bedrosian earned first-team all-GNAC honors in the fall of 2019, after scoring four goals and adding five assists to rank second on the team with 13 total points.
 
Cuevas and Runsvold each saw action in 17 games in their first year in the program, starting 11 and 10, respectively primarily as midfielders. Lowes adds some offensive potential to the Yellowjacket lineup, after scoring three goals and adding three assists during his career at Angelina College in Texas.
 
MSUB's junior class features four players who each have two years of experience on the team, in Austin Shafer, Pascal Pisarek, Bryan Maxwell, and Brady Tesch. Maxwell has started 25 games in his first two seasons on the back line, and contributed with a pair of goals in the 2019 fall season. Pisarek and Shafer have each been contributors offensively throughout their careers with three goals apiece, while Tesch has chipped in four assists and found the net once during his career.
 
MSUB's upper class will also get a boost from three transfers in Fernando Ortiz who played at fellow NCAA D2 Holy Names University, Edgar Ramirez from Skagit Valley College, and German international Halil Yilmaz.
 
The return of a healthy Marvin Putu will be a welcome sight for the Yellowjackets, as the striker has battled injury his first two collegiate seasons that has limited him to just 17 matches played. The 'Jackets have further, experienced depth in the form of goalkeepers Aleksandar Garza and Kolten Unrein, and midfielder Jacob Holtz who all return to the roster having been in the program last season.
 
Five first-year players will also have the chance to make their collegiate debut this season, with talent from the high-school ranks available at all positions on the field. German goalkeeper Lars Funk will compete for major minutes between the posts, while Norwegian defender Mathias Kjølner is projected to be a key player on the back line. Tybalt Thornberry is another defender who has been with the 'Jackets since the spring of 2020, and true freshmen Ty Vohland and Jayse Judkins will look to make a good impression in their first season in the navy and gold.
 
Chameraud, who was selected as the MSUB Men's Soccer Player of the Decade last fall, is in his second year as the head coach of the MSUB program and his 10th overall with the men's soccer program. He is joined by second-year assistant coach Tulio Melo and first-year assistant coach Matthew Ball.
 
"We have a good relationship between each other, but we still have a lot of things to work on with our team chemistry," Chameraud commented on the collective roster. "It has taken a toll on everyone, but I think now just being able to play a game against someone else is really exciting for everyone. The guys have been working really hard at practice, and they are really looking forward to this game to be on the field, play together, and hopefully get a win."