OKLAHOMA CITY – The Sooner Athletic Conference released its 2023 Men's Soccer preseason poll on Wednesday and the Stars came in at the number five mark with 58 points. Defending regular season and tournament champion Mid-America Christian came in first overall after receiving 87 points and eight first-place votes. Science & Arts secured the second spot after getting 77 points and John Brown came in three behind with 74 points to grab the third ranking. In fourth, only two points behind JBU was Southwestern Christian with 72 points.
The Oklahoma City Stars team will have many new faces this season after losing 13 seniors from last year's team. The Stars lost top goal scorer and points leader John Woodhead who was a first-team All-SAC selection in his senior season. Woodhead led the Stars with 13 goals, five game-winning goals, and 48 points and was tied for second in assists with four. Within the conference, he ranked tied for third in goals, tied for first in winning goals. OCU also loses one of its best defenders in Harvey Paul who joins Billy Martin's coaching staff in 2023.
OCU does however bring back some key pieces as Jordan Da Costa returns for his senior campaign. Da Costa received second-team All-SAC honors a year ago and led the team in assists as he will look to help lead the Stars this season. Felipe Pansica is another senior for Oklahoma City who will look to take a bigger role in 2023. The Brazilin native competed in 17 games while making eight starts at the mid-field spot. The Stars got high production from a lot of their young players in 2022 including Sage Trevino, Bernardo Duarte, Olly Clifford, and Henrique Duarte who will all be entering their sophomore seasons after getting a lot of quality experience in their first season.
In 2022 the Oklahoma City men's soccer team finished sixth in the conference with an overall record of 10-7-1 with a 4-4-1 record in conference play. The Stars lost four games by one point and tied the league champion and NAIA tournament qualifier Mid-America Christian showing just how close they were to being on the right side of things. The Star's defense shined towards the end of September last year as they posted five straight shutouts in their five-game winning streak.
The OCU men's soccer will start its 2023 season with two games on the road kicking off in Lindsborg, Kansas on Wednesday, August 23 at 7:30 PM and then traveling to Winfield, Kansas to take on the Moundbuilders of Southwestern College. On August 30 at 8:30 PM. OCU will return home to begin an eight-game homestand starting with Our Lady of the Lake on Saturday, September 2 at 7:30 PM.
