GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- A trip to Florida for two matches awaits the Tusculum University men's soccer team as it prepares to open the 2025 season this week.
The Pioneers will face defending NCAA Division II champion and preseason top-ranked Lynn on Thursday, Sept. 4 at 6 p.m., followed by a visit to Palm Beach Atlantic on Saturday, Sept. 6 at 7 p.m. The Pioneers open their SAC and home schedule on Wednesday, Sept. 13 at 1 p.m. against Wingate.
Second-year head coach Kyle Hughes has five full-time starters back from last year's team that compiled a 2-10-2 overall record and a 2-7-2 mark in the South Atlantic Conference. Tusculum's roster of 37 players includes 15 freshmen and seven upperclassmen additions.
MEET THE PIONEERS
Sophomore Clarenns Sainrimat (Marcoussis, France) was the Pioneers' leading scorer a year ago with four goals and three assists for 11 points. Joining him in the midfield are senior Devin Vital (Greeneville, Tenn.) who has started 29 matches over the last two seasons, along with sophomore Mason Clark (Coral Springs, Fla.) who netted two goals and an assist in 14 matches last year.
Sophomore Enoch Brako (Obomeng, Ghana) started 12 matches among his 14 appearances last year and had one assist. Also returning from last year in the midfield are junior Vinicius de Andrade (Jacarei, Brazil), sophomores Pedro Avila (Sao Paulo, Brazil), Zaki Goes (Sanford, Fla.) and Tomas Ramos (Charneca de Caparica, Portugal).
Newcomers among the midfielders include grad student Tavon Mussenden (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), who played in 27 matches across three seasons at Stetson with 11 starts, along with freshman Hugo Le Floch (Saint Nazaire, France) who is a SAC Player to Watch.
Also joining the program are junior Rodrigo Nina Ortiz (Kingsport, Tenn.), sophomore Jordan Khan (Mississauga, Ont.) and freshmen Ryan Batlowka (Basildon, England), Mateus Dias (Sao Paulo, Brazil), Elliot Edwards (Warwick, England), Andrew Eneme (Fredericksburg, Va.), Andres Lozano (Bogota, Colombia) and Tugay Odabas (Artigues-Pres-Bordeaux, France).
Up front, the Pioneers welcome back junior Carlos Perez (Cali, Colombia), who had two goals in 14 matches during the 2023 season. Junior Jean Grah (Abidjan, Ivory Coast) is joined by freshmen Filippo Canaletich (Cordoba, Argentina) and Gunner Corbitt (Jonesborough, Tenn.), with Canaletich earning SAC Player to Watch accolades during the preseason.
On defense, senior Linus Salomonsen (Stavanger, Norway) led the Pioneers in minutes played last season and is a three-year starter on defense, with a goal and four assists in 40 career matches (38 starts).
Returnees for the Pioneers include senior Dimitri Davourlis (Kirkland, Que.), junior Gustavo Figueira Oliveira (Sao Paulo, Brazil) and sophomore Juan Tapia (Guayaquil, Ecuador).
Newcomers on the defense include junior George Kirby (Northwich, England), who played two seasons at Briar Cliff, and junior Angelo Lemb (Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, France), who played the 2023 season at Presbyterian before moving to Eastern Florida State for last season, where he made five starts.
Also joining the program are junior Enzo Di Mauro (Saint Clement Laronxe, France) and freshmen Samuel Harmon (Stockholm, Sweden), Joao Pedro Peres (Londrina, Brazil), Noel Saygieder (Stockholm, Sweden), Cole Stophel (Jonesborough, Tenn.) and Djako Yepi (Saint-Laurent-de-Condel, France).
Sophomore Noe Delmotte (Bondues, France) made 11 starts in goal for the Pioneers last season, posting a 1.30 goals against average and a .745 save percentage with two shutouts. Junior Donovan Cobb (Adeje, Spain) played two years at USC Union, earning honorable mention All-Region honors as a freshman and posting a 1.85 goals against average in seven starts last season. Freshman Ralf Mert Keles (Istanbul, Turkey) joins Delmotte and Cobb in goal.
