CHICAGO – Roosevelt came within inches of potentially making the national tournament last season, but now a new challenge awaits the men's soccer program in 2024.

The Lakers open their inaugural NCAA Division II campaign on Thursday night with a 7 p.m. kickoff at Upper Iowa in the first of 16 scheduled "finals" for the team. An experienced, hungry squad is ready to tackle the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with a mentality that every game is a championship game for Roosevelt this season with no national postseason in which to participate. The conference agrees the Lakers might be more dangerous than an average newcomer, ranking them tied for sixth in the preseason coaches' poll.



As has been the case for coach Paddy Hoepp's first two seasons, this year's Lakers are built to stifle teams for 90 minutes. Captain Gabe Koenig is back to anchor the Roosevelt back line after being a first-team all-conference selection last season, and he'll have a few new faces around him. Fifth-year defender Emmanuel Castanon and senior Jonathan Hernandez both return, but otherwise the rest of the defense will be transfers who have joined the Lakers for this Division II journey.

The two notable transfers on defense are former Drake defender Valdemar Nambo and Kishwaukee College's Khori Miles. However, the most impactful transfers will probably be in the midfield where the Lakers have retooled. Noah Vasilev returns for a second season after a standout first year for Roosevelt, but he'll be surrounded by plenty of new faces – notably NAIA All-American and CCAC Player of the Year Nick Killian from Olivet Nazarene. He along with teammate Luca Swinton made the jump to the Lakers and should see plenty of playing time in the midfield.

Roosevelt has plenty of attacking options as well, although there isn't one main goal scorers for the Lakers. Sebastian Rodriguez scored 10 goals during the 2022 season and Oskar Schuster was the team's leader with four goals and six assists last season. More will be expected from Davide Comai and Erik Hernandez in their second years with the Lakers, but both have shown improvement from last year. The Lakers also benefit from the addition of freshman Haris Sarajlila from Brookfield, Ill. and Caco Fernandez, a graduate transfer from High Point.

Eric Carvajal will once again be in goal for the Lakers after a breakout sophomore campaign in 2023. The Arlington Heights native kept five shutouts last season and allowed just 1.07 goals per game in 14 appearances last year while also boasting a .737 save percentage.