The Jamestown men's soccer team will begin their 2026 season against Morningside University on Thursday, August 27 at Charlotte Gordon & Hanson Stadium.
 
"Getting to kick off the season with our first home game on home turf will be a huge advantage for us," said head coach Justin Gilfert. "If we can get the stands filled and loud, the boys will feed off that energy."
 
The Jimmies competed against Dakota County Technical College in a scrimmage, and Concordia University (Minn.) in an exhibition last Saturday. Morningside has had some tough competition so far, with two official games against two of the top 10 teams in the NAIA. After falling to No. 7 William Penn University on the road 7-1, the Mustangs took the reigning NAIA National Champions and preseason No. 1 Grand View University to a 0-0 draw away from home.
 
"Morningside is a good team," Gilfert noted. "They just got done drawing 0-0 with the reigning national champions so tomorrow night will be a tough test but a test we're ready for." 
 
Game Information

• 7:00 PM CST, August 27, 2026
• Charlotte Gordon & Hansen Stadium; Jamestown, ND
• Live Stats
• Live Video

 
Key Players
 
Jimmies players to look out for, according to Gilfert, will be junior midfielder Kai Yoshida, sophomore defensemen Freddie Tomkinson, and junior forward Josh Jackson. Tomkinson scored the lone goal in UJ's game against Newman University last year while Jackson found the back of the net versus Crown College to help the Jimmies win 8-1 over the Polars.
 
On the Mustang's side Javier Ruchelli is the leading returning scorer with six goals plus a helper in 2025. Bennet Buchwald had himself a nice freshman season with three goals and three assists across 19 games last year. Morningside has scored just one goal this season, that coming from Mengistu Schmidt against William Penn.
 
Last Time Out
 
The two former GPAC opponents clashed last year in Sioux City on October 18. The Jimmies stuck with the Mustangs in the first half with shots matched 5-5 and the score knotted at 0-0, but Morningside scored four times in a 22-minute span in the second half to claim victory 4-0. The Mustangs have won the last 11 matchups between these two teams, and a Jimmies win tomorrow would be the first since 2014.
 
"If we can feed off of the energy surrounding campus for us being the first team to compete a regular season game at home, hopefully by the final whistle we'll be getting the music on and dancing shoes going to celebrate the first win of many," Gilfert said.
 
Team Stats (2025 Season)

	Jamestown	Morningside
Record	3-9-0 (NCAA D-II Ind.)	12-7-2, 6-2-2 GPAC
Postseason Results	N/A	Lost in GPAC Championship
Goals per Game	2.8	2.2
Goals Against Average	3.7	1.2
Shots on Goal per Game	6.9	7.2
Save Percentage	.546	.688
Shutouts	1	9

 
Morningside will stay in Jamestown to play South Dakota Mines in a neutral site matchup on Saturday, August 29. The Jimmies next game will also be against the Hardrockers on Monday, August 31 at Charlotte Gordon & Hansen Stadium.