David Jesus Injury Return Sparks FAU in Season-Opener
PEORIA, IL (AUG. 26, 2026) – Several Peoria City alumni put up highlight moments during the opening week of the men’s college soccer season, highlighted by the return from injury by David Jesus (Deerfield Beach, FL/FAU) and Stephen Saladin (St. Louis, MO/Bradley).
A junior midfielder at Florida Atlantic, Jesus suffered a gruesome, non-contact injury to his lower leg in the third game of the USL League Two season May 27 at Springfield FC and missed the remainder of the summer season while he rehabbed back home in Florida. He started Thursday’s season-opener at Mercer and delivered three points on a goal and an assist in 67 minutes during the 3-0 win against the Bears, an effort that was aided by Peoria City veteran forward DJ Koulai (Lewisville, TX/FAU), who dished two assists. Koulai set up the eventual game-winner by Michael Tentchou in the 10th minute and earned the assist on the Jesus goal in the 74th minute.
Meanwhile on Peoria City’s home field at Shea Stadium, Bradley opened the season Thursday with a 2-2 draw against Big East member DePaul, Peoria City players Mitch Coughlon (Washington, IL) and Saladin combined on a go-ahead score in the 74th minute. Coughlon, who has played for Peoria City in three of the last four seasons, was named a preseason All-Missouri Valley Conference honoree and scored his 12th career goal for the Braves Sunday. Saladin originally joined Peoria City in the spring, but injured his knee during a Bradley practice and was unable to compete for the Carp this summer. The second-year transfer from Arizona Western College returned to the pitch Thursday and contributed the assist on Coughlon’s goal during his 51 minutes of reserve action.
Among the additional Peoria City highlights during Week One:
Prosper Adagani (Accra, Ghana) fired off seven shots and finished with a goal and an assist in High Point’s 5-2 win against LIU Thursday night. The Panthers (2-0-0) added a 3-2 win Monday at then-No. 11 Virginia and jumped up to No. 9 in this week’s United Soccer Coaches Top 25 poll. High Point will put that ranking to the test Saturday night when the Panthers visit #4 Maryland.
Although his new squad came away with a pair of defeats, Seattle’s Tommy Coughlin (Crystal Lake, IL) faced a trio of Peoria City teammates in his first two games of the year. Former Carp forward Tanner Anderson (2023, 2025) led #4 Saint Louis to a 4-0 victory against visiting Seattle Thursday night by opening the scoring with an eighth-minute tally. Coughlin logged the full 90 minutes in Sunday’s 2-1 loss at Michigan State, where the veteran midfielder matched up against Peoria City teammates Kayden Hudson (Peoria, IL) and Thatcher Hogan (Peoria, IL). Hudson, who scored a go-ahead goa in the 29th minute of Michigan State’s 6-2 win in the season-opener against Albany, got off three shots in his 36 minutes off the bench Sunday. Hudson, Hogan and their Michigan State squad will visit SIU Edwardsville Thursday night.
Paul Claes Nielsen (Copenhagen, Denmark/Belmont) scored a pair of goals in a 3-minute span, including the game-winner in the 24th minute, sparking a 6-1 rout against Wright State Sunday.
Grant Paskus (Indianapolis, IN/Indiana) served an assist in Indiana’s 3-0 win Sunday against Evansville.
Max Rülke (Germany/Lewis and Clark CC) posted two assists in Sunday’s 3-0 win against Marshalltown CC.