The men’s soccer team’s season came to a disappointing end after a gut-punch shootout loss to Sacred Heart in the NEC Tournament semifinals in Loretto on Nov. 9.
Saint Francis posted an undefeated record this fall, finishing with a final mark of 7-0-8. First-year head coach Mads Kaiser’s team posted a 5-0-3 mark in the NEC’s regular season, capturing the league’s regular-season title.
For the 2023 Red Flash soccer program, the word that immediately comes to mind is “defense.” Saint Francis gave up just 12 goals in 15 matches (0.8 per game).
The defensive unit was led by junior Tom Schellbach. The native of Germany earned the NEC’s Defensive Player-of-the-Year Award, as well as All-NEC first team and NEC All-Tournament honors.
Goalkeeper and fellow German Jordaine Jaeger also played a key role on SFU’s stingy defensive unit. The sophomore’s 0.73 goals-against-average is tied for fifth all-time in a single season Red Flash history.
The NEC’s Rookie-of-the-Year last season, Jaeger was selected the league’s Goalkeeper-of-the-Year in voting by the conference’s coaches this fall.
The Red Flash locked up the top seed in the NEC through a disciplined bend-but-don’t-break approach.
SFU’s offense was led by Joschi Schelb. The freshman from Germany led the team in points (13), assists (7) and shot attempts (29) and was named to the NEC’s All-Rookie Team.
The future remains bright for a team that has the potential to return 29 of 31 underclassmen in 2024
