DeLAND, Fla. — A new season begins under the lights in Dallas as Stetson men's soccer opens the 2026 campaign Thursday night against No. 15 SMU at Washburne Stadium.

Kickoff is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET as the Hatters begin their seventh season under head coach Emmett Rutkowski against the defending ACC champions.

Stetson enters the new year with a mix of proven veterans, emerging young players and 13 newcomers on a 28-player roster. The Hatters return several key pieces from a team that reached the ASUN Championship semifinals last fall, but Thursday will also provide the first look at a reshaped group featuring new faces throughout the lineup.

Stetson finished 6-8-3 in 2025, but the Hatters played some of their best soccer late in the season.

Stetson went unbeaten over its final four matches, including a 4-1 victory over North Florida in the regular-season finale and a 2-1 win over Central Arkansas in the ASUN Championship quarterfinals. The run eventually ended in the conference semifinals after a scoreless draw against North Florida, with the Ospreys advancing on penalty kicks.

The Hatters now return several of the players who helped fuel that late-season push.

Stetson brings back an experienced group through the middle of the field and along the back line, led by senior captain Ross Appolon and junior midfielder Benjamin Donato.

Appolon will again anchor the Stetson defense after starting all 15 matches in which he appeared last season and logging a team-high 1,258 minutes among Hatter field players. The Montreal native enters his fourth season with the program after earning ASUN All-Freshman Team honors in 2023 and helping Stetson capture the 2024 ASUN Regular Season Championship.

Donato enters his junior season as one of Stetson's most experienced midfielders. The Fort Myers, Florida, native started 14 of his 15 appearances in 2025, logged 1,169 minutes and scored once. Through his first two seasons in DeLand, Donato has appeared in 27 matches with 23 starts while logging 2,033 minutes.

Another returning Hatter positioned for a larger role is redshirt junior forward William Mills.

Mills put together a strong summer and continued that momentum throughout preseason, putting himself in position to see increased minutes in the Stetson attack. The Port Saint Lucie, Florida, native enters his fourth year in the program and provides another experienced option as the Hatters reshape their front line.

Senior forward Zsombor Pall also returns after leading the Hatters with six goals during his first season in DeLand. Pall earned Second Team All-ASUN honors and finished 2025 with 12 points, including a pair of goals in Stetson's 4-1 regular-season finale against North Florida and the equalizer in the Hatters' ASUN Championship quarterfinal victory over Central Arkansas.

Sophomores Valentin Fontaine and Israel Daniels are also back after earning ASUN All-Freshman Team recognition in 2025. Fontaine became a fixture in the Stetson midfield during his debut season, starting all 15 matches in which he appeared, while Daniels gained valuable experience throughout his first collegiate campaign.

While the Hatters retain an experienced core, nearly half of the roster is new.

Thirteen of Stetson's 28 players are newcomers, with eight entering the program as freshmen. The roster features three goalkeepers, eight defenders, 10 midfielders and seven forwards, with 15 players from the United States and 13 international student-athletes.

Two of Stetson's youngest players have emerged as names to watch heading into opening night.

Freshman goalkeeper Murillo Mello enters Thursday as the projected starter between the posts following a strong preseason. The Orlando native joins a completely rebuilt goalkeeper room following the departure of former ASUN Goalkeeper of the Year Nicolò Radaelli.

Mello will compete throughout the season alongside Daytona State transfer Matthew McCall and freshman Reef Brain, with all three goalkeepers entering their first seasons with the Hatters.

Freshman midfielder Matthew Perez has also impressed throughout preseason and is projected to earn a spot in the starting lineup Thursday night.

The Boca Raton, Florida, native is part of a young midfield group that also features Fontaine, Daniels and several experienced returners. His emergence provides another example of a freshman class that has quickly pushed for meaningful roles.

Another newcomer expected to provide an immediate impact is 6-foot-5 defender Jaxson Lee.

Lee arrives after spending the 2025 season at Robert Morris, where he appeared in all 17 matches, made 12 starts and logged 1,129 minutes. He scored one goal and led the Colonials with five assists, finishing tied for second in the Horizon League in assists.

The new faces will be tasked with replacing several longtime contributors who helped shape the program over the past few seasons.

Radaelli, forward Andres Mata and defender Giuseppe Croce are among the notable departures from last year's roster.

Mata finished his Stetson career as one of the program's most decorated recent players, while Croce remained a consistent presence along the back line. Radaelli leaves behind perhaps the most obvious question entering 2026 after spending multiple seasons as Stetson's primary goalkeeper and earning ASUN Goalkeeper of the Year and multiple all-conference honors during his career.

With Mello, McCall and Brain now taking over that room, the next chapter between the posts begins Thursday night.

Stetson's roster isn't the only thing that looks different entering 2026.

Eduardo Jimenez has been promoted to associate head coach after serving as an assistant with the Hatters since 2022. Jimenez has played a key role in Stetson's recent success, including the program's 2024 ASUN Regular Season Championship.

Andres Rodriguez has also joined the staff as an assistant coach after concluding his playing career with the Hatters, while Nic Fischer takes over as goalkeeper coach.

Fischer arrives after three seasons at McKendree University, where his goalkeepers earned all-conference recognition in each season. His tenure included helping Christian Herluf become the first GLVC Goalkeeper of the Year in McKendree history in 2024.

There will be little opportunity for Stetson to ease into the new campaign.

SMU enters the season ranked No. 15 nationally and was selected fourth in the 2026 ACC Men's Soccer Preseason Coaches Poll behind NC State, Stanford and Virginia.

The Mustangs are coming off an 11-5-4 season in which they went 3-2-3 in ACC play before producing a postseason run that ended with the program lifting the ACC Championship trophy.

SMU shut out Virginia 1-0 in the championship match before advancing to the NCAA Tournament, where its season ended with a 1-0 loss to eventual national champion Washington in the second round.

Junior forward Stephan Soghomonian leads the group of returning Mustangs after being selected to the 2026 ACC Men's Soccer Preseason Watch List.

Soghomonian led SMU with 13 goals and 27 points last season, producing that total on 46 shot attempts across 20 appearances and nine starts.

Thursday's matchup also features a familiar face on the opposing sideline. Former Stetson assistant coach Jaime Ibarra-Perez now serves as SMU's associate head coach and goalkeeping coach.

Thursday will mark the third meeting between Stetson and SMU and the first since 2019.

SMU holds a 2-0 advantage in the all-time series. The Mustangs earned a 3-1 victory in DeLand on Oct. 1, 2018 before defeating the Hatters 5-0 in Dallas on Oct. 22, 2019.

The season opener will therefore mark Stetson's first trip to Dallas in nearly seven years and its first meeting with the Mustangs since SMU joined the ACC.

Thursday night's match will be broadcast live on ACC Network Extra beginning at 9 p.m. ET. Live statistics will be available through the men's soccer schedule page at GoHatters.com.

Fans can stay up to date with Stetson Men's Soccer throughout the 2026 season by visiting GoHatters.com and following @StetsonMSoccer/@StetsonMSOC and @StetsonHatters on social media.