BEAUMONT, Texas - Lamar University soccer opened preseason workouts at the LU Soccer Complex Tuesday morning in preparation for the start of the 2025 season. The Cardinals began the day with a full session in the morning, and followed it up with a second light session in the evening. LU will look to improve upon last season, when they went 5-8-6 overall and 3-3-4 in the Southland Conference, earning the league's seventh seed in the conference tournament. 

 "It's the best time of the year for us," head coach Nathan Kogut said. "There's nothing better than seeing the group you've worked so hard to recruit and develop show up and get on the grass together. Our kids have worked so hard in July and it was a lot of fun today to finally see them with our own eyes and get to start molding them to our style."

Big Red is scheduled to host 10 home contests beginning with an exhibition against Blinn College on Aug. 4th. In addition to the nine regular season games, the Cardinals will be hosting this year's conference tournament, which opens on Nov. 4th. LU's season opener will be at Louisiana on Aug. 14th, with their home opener two weeks later on Aug. 28 against UC-Davis. 
 
LU returns 14 letterwinners from last season's squad, including leading scorer and sophomore Cena Carlson, who posted 11 points on the season, and junior goalkeeper Maddie Rich, who posted a 1.02 goals against average and recorded 43 saves in 11 contests. Also returning are seniors Caragan Childs, Annika Kassenbrock, Ella Carmody and Olivia Smith, juniors Kamryn Harvey, Kaitlyn Niemeyer, Anneliese Switzer, and Riley Wilson, sophomore Erin Dull, redshirt sophomore Mariana Cardenas, and redshirt freshman Olivia Manibo. They are joined by 14 newcomers to the 2025 roster. 
 

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