BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The IU Indianapolis men's soccer team will officially kick off the 2025 campaign on Thursday night (Aug. 21) when the Jaguars trek to Bowling Green for the opener. The Jaguars are coming off an unbeaten preseason slate, but were recently picked to finish eighth in the Horizon League Men's Soccer Preseason Polls. 

The Jaguars will open the season with five straight road matches, including upcoming trips to Notre Dame (Aug. 24), Louisville (Aug. 29) and Butler (Sept. 1). 

Head coach Sid van Druenen's team went 5-9-3 a season ago with a draw with No. 6 Saint Louis and an impressive road win at Akron, but struggled in conference, going just 2-6-1. Junior attacker Jose Antonio Herrera tallied a team-high six goals last season, but the offense only registered 15 scores for the year. Other returners with goals from a season ago include Ethan Vermillion (2 goals), Tyson Aschliman (2 goals), Bali Esquivel (1 goal), Christian Nielsen (1 goal) and Gijs Velings (1 goal). Sophomore defender Stan Klaver had a team-high three assists from his defensive post while Vermillion was tied for second on the team with two assists. 

This year's group is keyed by a strong defensive core, led by senior Brady Horn and junior Jago Thompson-Roberts. Klaver also returns in the defensive third and midyear transfer Luke Kalavitz will be relied on heavily defensively. In goal, senior Cameron Maung-Maung enters the year as the No. 1 goalkeeper while Declan Finnegan also brings additional experience in net. 

The incoming recruiting class is buoyed by a group of transfers that includes Nathaniel Isom (Bradley), Youri Keijser (Coker University) and Nikolai Zapolskikh (Temple). 

QUOTABLE
"Obviously, it'll take a couple weeks to see if the pieces do fit the puzzle, but so far we've had the opportunity to meet some of the boys personally and did a lot of film review on them and seen their evolution they've had since they've been committed to us. We do feel like the incomers, I would dare to say that it's probably our best recruiting class we've had so far. If six of the 10 can have an impact, that's a really good sign," van Druenen said of his squad at the start of the preseason. "It's early days, but we're definitely excited with what they're bringing."

SCOUTING BGSU
BGSU was picked to finish second in the Missouri Valley Conference in the 2025 preseason coaches poll while three Falcons - Andrew Shaffer, Trace Terry and Bennett Painter - earned Preseason All-MVC honors. BGSU went 12-6-2 a season ago and 4-3-1 in MVC play. Painter had a team-high 13 goals while Terry had 12 goals and five assists. The Falcons outscored opponents by a 40-24 margin for the year. 

INSIDE THE SERIES
IU Indy is just 1-7-3 all-time against Bowling Green and haven't beaten the Falcons since 2004, the first meeting in the series. BGSU won last year's meetings, 4-1, in Indianapolis on Aug. 30. Gijs Velings tallied the team's lone goal on a first half penalty kick. The Jaguars are 1-4-1 in the six meetings on the road. 

UP NEXT
The Jaguars will take on Notre Dame on Sunday, Aug. 24 at 7:30 p.m. in South Bend.