2023 Men's Soccer Season Preview

The Hope College men's soccer team is seeking to rise to the challenge this fall, day in and day out.

With the reigning national champions, perennial NCAA Division III powers and talented MIAA opponents on the schedule, the Flying Dutchmen have no shortage of competition.

Head coach David Blahnik said his team is focused on itself, instead of others.

"One of the major things we talked about coming into this season with the returners and through the recruiting process with the freshmen was consistency," Blahnik said. "We had the ability last year to be extremely good and competitive against anybody, but it was inconsistent sometimes. The identity for right now has been consistently winning every single day. The guys have been doing that. It hasn't been perfect, but the guys have gotten better each day."

2023 Schedule

The Flying Dutchmen host back-to-back games during the season-opening Labor Day Weekend at Van Andel Soccer Stadium. On Friday, Sept. 1, Hope plays Ohio Wesleyan University at 6 p.m. and on Saturday, Sept. 2, faces St. Norbert College (Wisconsin) at 6 p.m. Ohio Wesleyan reached the second round of the NCAA Division III Championships last season.

Seven of the Flying Dutchmen's first eight games will be at home. On Friday, Sept. 15, Hope will welcome University of Chicago, the 2022 national champion, to campus for a 7 p.m. showdown.

On Tuesday, Oct. 3, MIAA play begins with a battle against visiting Adrian College at 7 p.m. On Saturday, Oct. 7, The Flying Dutchmen will go on the road to face defending MIAA champion Calvin University.

2023 Roster

The Flying Dutchmen return 16 letterwinners from a group that posted a 7-5-6 overall record in Blahnik's first season as head coach. Hope finished runner-up in the MIAA regular-season standings and the league tournament. Seven of Hope's games had a one-goal differential.

Four All-MIAA selections return for the Flying Dutchmen, who have a roster of 31.

Junior midfielder Mario Hrvojevic (Lincolnwood, Illinois / Loyola Academy HS) and sophomore defender Cole Pauly (Mundelein, Illinois / Mundelein) earned first-team honors last season.

Sophomore forward Seth Walters (St. Joseph, Michigan / St. Joseph) and senior defender Jake Lyon (Farmington Hills, Michigan / Marshall) made the second team. Walters is Hope's returning leading goal scorer. Hrvojevic was within the top three scorers last season.

Coaching Staff

Head Coach: David Blahnik, second season
Assistant Coaches: Cory Miller, Connor Fowler, Chris Taborn
Student Assistant Coach: Zach Riordan

MIAA Preseason Poll

The Flying Dutchmen finished runner-up in the MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll with one first-place vote and 13 points. Hope trailed only preseason favorite and last year's regular-season champion, Calvin University, in the eight-team poll.

Coach's Outlook

"Our depth is unbelievable. We've had some key injuries, but the level of play hasn't dropped at all. The returners have put in the work. The freshmen and transfers are showing why we wanted to bring them in. They're competing. They're pushing each other. It's extremely competitive and it's making everybody better. Our schedule is going to prepare us for late October and hopefully November. We open with Ohio Wesleyan, who last year for me was one of the top three hardest games. They're going to push us. UChicago is the reigning national champion. I think we have some games on our schedule where they could maybe be overlooked, but we know how difficult they're going to be. That's important to us. I told this team we need to win every game we should before we deserve to win the big ones. Whether it's against a team that hasn't won a game or an undefeated team, we need to prepare the same way and do what we do." — David Blahnik

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Players Mentioned

#15 Mario Hrvojevic: M; 6' 0"; Junior; Engineering

#11 Jake Lyon: D; 6' 0"; Senior; Economics

#5 Cole Pauly: D; 6' 3"; Junior

#4 Seth Walters: F; 6' 0"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

#15 Mario Hrvojevic
: 6' 0"; Junior; Engineering
: M

#11 Jake Lyon
: 6' 0"; Senior; Economics
: D

#5 Cole Pauly
: 6' 3"; Junior
: D

#4 Seth Walters
: 6' 0"; Sophomore
: F