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PITTSBURGH -- It's Point Park University Men's Soccer Gameday versus Lawrence Tech (Mich.). Kickoff is 12 pm at Highmark Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 2.
Watch Live on the Point Park Sports Network powered by Stretch Internet. Follow on social media @PointParkSports on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Admission is Free to all regular-season Point Park home games at Highmark Stadium.
GAME PREVIEW
Point Park (0-1) plays another home game, this time versus fellow NAIA opponent Lawrence Tech (Mich.). The Pioneers opened their season this past Wednesday at home versus Florida National, a 4-0 defeat.
Lawrence Tech, which is a member of the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference comes in with a 2-0 record and has yet to give up a goal this year. The Blue Devils have victories of 4-0 over Trinity International (Ill.) and 3-0 over Robert Morris (Ill.) thus far.
SERIES HISTORY
This is the first-ever meeting between Point Park and Lawrence Tech in men's soccer. The schools have played in volleyball several times, and the schools will also meet in women's basketball later this year.
POINT PARK NOTES
The Pioneers have 8 of 11 starters returning from the 2016 team that was 9-9-1 overall. Point Park was able to notch its sixth year in a row at or above .500 overall, but the team was not able to make its usual conference playoff run. It was the first time since 2010 Point Park did not play in the conference tournament semifinals or finals.
Alan Ramos and Roberto Whitley are the top returners on the attack. There are many midfielders returning from last year, but there is also a big crop of incoming midfielders who are new to the team. The back line lost two starters to graduation and is getting organized with personnel so far. Juan Somoza stood tall in goal in the season opener with 10 saves.
Head coach Jeroen Walstra is in his 11th year coaching the men's soccer program at Point Park. His team had 17 countries represented among the 30 players who dressed for Wednesday's opener. The starting eleven came from nine different countries.
LAWRENCE TECH NOTES
The Blue Devils are off to a good start to the year at 2-0 with two shutouts. That's after coming off a 2016 season at 10-6-2 overall and 5-4-2 in a difficult WHAC league.
Through two games, Chris Serwatka and Nico Rbp lead the offense with two goals apiece. Alvaro Garcia is also in with four points with a goal and two assists. Max Jewett has played both games and all 180 minutes in goal so far. He has two shutouts and has made four saves in two games.
Head coach Will Dyer is in his ninth year in charge of the LTU team. He has led the Blue Devils to a total of 32 victories the last three seasons. Lawrence Tech is located in Southfield, Mich., just outside of Detroit.
