POUGHKEEPSIE, New York – The Marist men's soccer team kicks off the 2017 season when the Red Foxes host the University at Albany Great Danes in non-conference action at Tenney Stadium on Friday, Aug. 25^th at 7 PM. Admission is free and open to the public and a live stream of the match will be available on GoRedFoxes.com for free as well.

DEJA VU:
The matchup with the Great Danes marks the second consecutive year the teams have squared off to open their respective seasons, having battled to a 2-2 draw at Bob Ford Field in Albany on Aug. 26th, 2016. The game featured two ties and two lead changes before a scoreless overtime. 

Preseason Predictions:
Marist was picked to finish seventh in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Preseason Poll, as voted by the league's 11 head coaches.

ALL-MAAC:
Junior co-captain Simon Lund Jorgensen was voted to the All-MAAC Preseason team.

LAST YEAR:
The Red Foxes are coming off an 11-7-1 (6-4 MAAC) season in 2016, during which the Red Foxes tied the fourth most wins in a single season in program history and had the best non-conference record in head coach Matt Viggiano's 10 year tenure at 5-2-1. With the 6-4 conference record, Marist earned the #4 seed in the MAAC Championship and hosted the program's first home playoff game when they played #5 Canisius.

NEW FACES:
The Red Foxes added six freshman and two transfers for 2017, a goalie, three defenders and four midfielders. Within the newcomers are three state champions, two national champions, three high school All-State selections, one high school All-Region selection, two high school All-County selections, one high school All-Division selection, one high school All-Conference selection, one team Most Valuable Player, one league Young Player of the Year selection, one league Rookie of The Year selection and one Youth National Team selection.

RETURNING FACES:
The Red Foxes also welcome back 22 student-athletes from last season, including nine players from last year's starting 11 lineup. The returners accounted for 17 goals, 23 assists and 59 shots on goal from last season and a First Team All-MAAC selection and 2016 team captain (Simon Lund Jorgensen), Second Team All-MAAC selection and a 2017 co-captain (Kevin Kappock) and a MAAC All-Rookie Team selection (Samad Bounthong) from 2016.

PLAYING THE BEST:
The 2017 non-conference schedule for Marist features competition against teams that were among some of their conference's best last year, including two conference champions, two NCAA Tournament appearances, two conference championship appearances and two conference semi-final appearances.

LIFE ON THE ROAD:
After the team's season and home opener, the Red Foxes head out on a year long six game road trip at Hartwick (8/29, 7 PM), Hartford (9/2 7 PM), American (9/7, 4 PM), Rhode Island (9/10, 7 PM), Fordham (9/13, 7 PM) and Army West Point (9/17, 7 PM).

MAAC CHAMPIONSHIP:
The 2017 MAAC Championship will be held on Nov. 5^th (quarterfinals), Nov. 9^th (semi finals) and Nov. 11^th (finals) at times and locations to be determined. The top six teams in the conference at the end of the regular season will qualify for the Championship.