BUIES CREEK, N.C. - The 2024 Campbell Men's Soccer campaign gets underway Friday (7 PM) against Radford and Sunday against NC Wesleyan (7 PM) at Eakes Athletics Complex. Admission is free for all Campbell soccer home regular season matches.

Friday's season opener will be broadcast on FloFC. Using this specific Campbell link, any Fighting Camels fan can sign up for a FloSports subscription with a discounted annual rate of $8.99 a month ($108 for the year). Campbell faculty, staff, and students with a campbell.edu email address can use the same link for a discounted annual rate of only $5.99 a month ($72 a year). The discounted a-la-carte monthly subscription rate is $9.99 for those with a campbell.edu address and $19.99 per month for non campbell.edu addresses.

Head coach Dustin Fonder enters his tenth season at the helm as he looks to push the Camels towards a CAA title and back into the NCAA Tournament.

"The guys really understand the game model," Fonder said of his team that includes 16 returnees and 10 newcomers. "We've done a better job this year of teaching it and slowing it down. They understand what we want in offensive transition, what we want in defensive transition. Our chemistry and work rate in general is through the roof."

Campbell finished tied for seventh with a 2-4-2 record in its inaugural CAA campaign. No team won more than five games in the CAA last year and Fonder expects the same, if not greater, parity in the league this season. "From the backend to the front-end every team can compete any given night," said Fonder whose squad battled to a draw against eventual conference champions Hofstra a year ago.

The Fighting Camels will also once again face a difficult non-conference slate highlighted by matches against UNCW, VCU, Coastal Carolina, and AAC favorites Charlotte.

GOALKEEPERS
Samy Slimi, who started 13 of 14 games as a true freshman last season, returns to man the Camel nets. Slimi posted two solo shutouts and combined for another in 1,091 goalkeeper minutes played.

The Camels also added a pair of freshmen in Luke Holdstock and Max Leviton to round out the group.

DEFENDERS
Five-year starter and 2021 Big South Defensive Player of the Year Bissafi Dotte graduated in May and undoubtedly leaves a void in the Camels' defense. However, plenty of Fonder's defensive unit remains intact and is a key strength entering the season.

Returning on the backline are a pair of defenders who totaled over 1,000 minutes last season in captain and redshirt-senior Owen Mikoy and junior Teva Lossec. Graduate student Daniel Osei-Tutu is back after missing the majority of last season due to injury along with senior Carson Pina and sophomore Jake Roberts who both started matches last year.

New to defense include freshmen Lillian Fichelle, Brogan Eastlack, and Gabe Zarate along with Tyler Junior College transfer Emilio Garza who comes to Buies Creek with 37 games of collegiate experience.

"The guys want to keep clean sheets this year," Fonder stated. "There's buy-in to that."

MIDFIELDERS
A preseason All-CAA honorable mention selection, senior Tai-Reece Chisholm returns as Campbell's leading scorer. Chisholm scored four goals against CAA foes last season including posting a brace at Elon. 

Ugo Bertelli, now a junior, remains in the midfield alongside fellow returnees and seniors Curtis De Leon, Ioannis Moros and Samuel Valencia.

Evans Dapaah and Xavier grad transfer Lotem Ben Dov will also compete for time in the midfield.

FORWARDS
Up front the Camels will be led by a young group. Returning are sophomores Filipe Matos, who had a strong spring season, Marco Wright and Sam Roberson along with junior Ethan Roberts. 

Three freshmen are also included in the mix in Luc Lavielle, Kwame Kwakye and Landon deLeeuw. 

SCOUTING RADFORD: Radford finished last season 3-11-3 overall including 2-4-1 in Big South games. The Highlanders field almost an all new team with no returning goal scorers returning and only Jan Maldonando (2 assists) and Tyler Pulik (1 assist) on the roster as returning point scorers. Chris Barrett leads Radford and owns a 15-37-6 overall record entering his fifth season at the helm. 

SERIES HISTORY: Former Big South rivals, Campbell and Radford meet for the 33rd time on Friday evening. The Camels own a 17-14-1 edge in the series and have won five-straight from 2018-22, outscoring the Highlanders 12-4 in that span. Campbell won 2-1 the last time both teams met on Oct. 15, 2022 as Daniel Osei-Tutu assisted on Adrian Morales' game-winner in the 74th minute. 

HOME, SWEET HOME: Campbell stands 36-4-10 in its last 50 matches overall at the Eakes Complex. Last season the Camels finished 4-1-3 at Eakes with its only loss coming to #5 Wake Forest. In 10 seasons under head coach Dustin Fonder, Campbell is 51-12-20 in Buies Creek.

LAST SEASON: The Camels finished 4-6-4 overall in 2023 including 2-4-2 in its inaugural CAA campaign. CU picked up wins over Northeastern (1-0) and William & Mary (2-1) and battled to draws against Delaware (1-1) and Hofstra (2-2). Tai-Reece Chisholm earned All-CAA third team honors. 

CHISHOLM EARNS PRESEASON HONORS: Tai-Reece Chisholm was named preseason All-CAA honorable mention. Chisholm returns as the leading goal scorer for the Camels this season after scoring four goals a year ago, all against CAA foes. The Birmingham, England native totaled 1,060 minutes in 2023 and assisted on the game-winning goal in Campbell's 1-0 win over VMI.

SILVERWARE COUNT AT SIX SINCE 2018: Between regular season and tournament titles, Campbell has won six overall since 2018 (Big South Double: 2019 & 2021, Big South Tournament: 2018, Big South regular season: 2022)

HEAD COACH DUSTIN FONDER (Roanoke, '94) is in his tenth season at Campbell (88-54-21 overall, 45-21-7 Big South/CAA).  His overall head coaching record stands at 166-117-39, including a 79-63-18 mark in eight seasons at High Point. He has guided CU to 6 Big South trophies and 3 NCAA appearances (2018, 2019, 2021) over the past six seasons.

NEW TO THE CREEK: Campbell welcomes 10 new faces to its team in 2024. This year's freshman class includes goalkeepers Luke Holdstock and Max Leviton, defenders Lillian Fichelle, Brogan Eastlack and Gabe Zarate, and forwards Kwame Kwakye, Landon deLeeuw and Luc Lavielle. The Camels also landed a pair of transfers in Emilio Garza, a junior defender from Tyler JC, and Lotem Ben Dov, a graduate student and midfielder from Xavier.

EXPERIENCED DEFENDING: Three Camels who each totaled over 1,000 minutes in 2023 return to shore up the defense this season. Sophomore Samy Slimi in goal along with defenders Owen Mikoy and Teva Lossec. Daniel Osei-Tutu, who totaled over 1,000 minutes in 2022 before missing the majority of last season due to injury, will also bolster the backline.

2024 CAA PRESEASON POLL (1st place votes): 1. Hofstra (9) 99, 2. Monmouth (1) 82, 3. Delaware (1) 79, 4. Elon 60, 5. Drexel 57, 6. Stony Brook 56, 7. UNCW 53, 8. Campbell 44, 9. Charleston 29, 10. William & Mary 25, 11. Northeastern 21

SOPHOMORE CAA CAMPAIGN: Campbell is competing in its second season as members of the Coastal Athletic Association in 2024. Other men's soccer members in 2024 include Charleston, Delaware, Drexel, Elon, Hofstra, Monmouth, UNC Wilmington, Northeastern, Stony Brook and William & Mary.

SPRING SUCCESS: The Camels finished 3-1 in the inaugural Carolina Cup spring league featuring shutout wins over South Carolina (3-0), High Point (3-0) and UNCG (4-0)

HALL PROMOTED TO ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH: Wayne Hall was promoted from assistant to associate head coach this past June. Entering his fifth season on staff, Hall has helped guide Campbell to a 38-16-13 (.664) overall record, including a 21-6-5 (.734) in conference play. Hall also assisted in leading the Camels to the Big South double and the program's fourth NCAA College Cup appearance in 2021 and a Big South regular season title in 2022.

ALUMNI WEEKEND: Campbell men's soccer invites program alumni back to The Creek for Alumni Weekend set for Oct. 4-6. Click here for more information and to RSVP