AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria men's soccer program begins their 2019 season on Saturday evening, when the Lions of Florida Memorial University come to Gyrene Field for a non-conference match. The Gyrenes are coming off a record 2018 season, and will look to build on the historic campaign with a combination of returners and newcomers.

The returning roster for Ave Maria is led by career scoring leader Kensley Jean Baptiste, who enters the 2019 season as Ave's all-time leader in goals (16), assists (8), and points (40). Of Ave Maria's top five scorers last season, the Gyrenes also return sophomore Greg Lawrence, who scored three goals and added three assists. Among players with over 1000 minutes on the pitch last season, Lawrence is joined by defenders Hernando Valencia-Parra, Eamon McQuade, and Cedric Georges, as well as forward John Gokey.

AMU's newcomers includes a number of players with previous collegiate experience, led by defender Cole Hempfling. A Southwest Florida native from Cape Coral, Hempfling was a Second Team All-Upper Midwest Athletic Conference selection and set a new school record at NCAA Division III Crown College in minutes played. Ave also gets a transfer midfielder in Immokalee native Ulises Soto, who played for Division III St. Lawrence University last season. The freshman class includes players from Florida, Indiana, Illinois, and Italy.

Three of Ave Maria's first four matches will be at home, including matches against Brewton-Parker and Briar Cliff. The remainder of the non-conference schedule will feature road matches against Warner, Florida College, Keiser, and Webber as well as a home date against the University of the Virgin Islands.

The conference schedule begins with the same opponent as the non-conference schedule, as the Gyrenes travel to Miami Gardens for a match with Florida Memorial. In addition to the trip to Miami Gardens, Ave Maria will play road conference matches against St. Thomas, Johnson & Wales, Warner, and SCAD, which will serve as the regular season finale.

Both the Sun Conference's regular season and tournament champions from 2018 will come to Gyrene Field during the 2019 season. A match with Thomas will mark the first conference home game of the season, while Southeastern will come to Ave Maria on October 26. The other two conference home games will see the Gyrenes host Webber on October 16 and Keiser on October 30. In Thomas, Southeastern, and Keiser, the Gyrenes draw three of the top four teams in the 2018 conference standings at home.

All home matches will be broadcast live on Ave Maria's Stretch Internet portal, while road matches will be subject to the broadcast policies of the host school.