MOUNT VERNON – Head coach Nate Grosse enters his eighth season at Cornell without much collegiate experience on his 2021 men's soccer roster.
 
The plus side is the Rams welcome the largest incoming class since Grosse's arrival. The team has 16 players new to the program, including 13 freshmen with impressive credentials.
 
"Everyone that we've had come in has a good soccer pedigree," said Grosse. "There's a lot of excitement about the season and the strong class we've added to the team.
 
"I'm also excited about our returning players who fought through everything last year with the pandemic. That level of leadership and commitment has been impressive."
 
Cornell is projected to qualify for the four-team Midwest Conference Tournament in early November. The Rams are No. 4 in the MWC Preseason Coaches' Poll with 32 points, two ahead of fifth-place Lawrence.
 
Knox is the favorite to win the MWC title with 55 points and six first-place votes, followed by Lake Forest (50 points, two first-place votes) and Grinnell (41 points).
 
The young Rams are hitting the ground running with some difficult early matchups. They scrimmage tonight at 2021 NJCAA Division II national champion Southeastern Community College. They'll open the regular season Sept. 1 under the lights at No. 5 nationally-ranked Luther, which reached the Elite 8 of the NCAA Division III Tournament in 2018 and 2019.
 
"We are playing a tough nonconference schedule that hopefully makes us more prepared for the conference season," Grosse said. "We're trying to challenge our guys."
 
Cornell hosts rival Coe Sept. 6 in the annual Bremner Cup match. The Rams follow that with home contests against Rockford Sept. 9 and Fontbonne Sept. 10. The MWC season gets underway Sept. 25 at Monmouth.   
 
The Rams finished 5-10-3 in their last competition season in 2019. They have three starters back from that squad, led by two-time all-conference defender Justin Howe.
 
Howe, a CoSIDA First Team Academic All-American, has been voted team captain for the third year in a row. The senior is Cornell's top returning scorer (nine points in 2019) and will help anchor the defense.
 
Juniors Andrew Lopez and Blake Soto were regulars in the starting lineup as freshmen. Galen Westervelt, Aria Dehshid, Vance Wicker, Nolan Zeger and Drew Bruck also provide varsity experience.
 
Grosse believes his newcomers are ready to play key roles this fall. Three of the freshmen – Sam Brueck (Burlington-Notre Dame), Owen Smith (Iowa City West) and Thomas Hamborg (Bondurant-Farrar) – played for Iowa state championships at their respective high schools in June. Brueck was named Mr. Soccer, the state's 2021 Player of the Year.
 
Freshman goalkeeper Will Bickel earned all-state honors at Cedar Rapids Washington. Junior Cian McNamara is a first-year transfer after playing at Western Illinois University.
 
"Across the board, the pedigrees of our incoming players are at a different level than we've had," Grosse said.