ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Saint Louis FC announced the club has exercised contract options on eight players from the 2018 squad and will return three players already under contract to see a total of 11 players retained as the team takes shape for the upcoming 2019 USL Championship season. All remaining players from the 2018 season are out of contract.

The players already under contract for the 2019 USL Championship season include:

Goalkeeper – Tomas Gomez

Defender – Sam Fink

Forward – Kyle Greig

The players whose options have been exercised for the 2019 USL Championship season include:

Goalkeeper – Jake Fenlason

Defender – Sean Reynolds

Defender – Phanuel Kavita

Midfielder – Lewis Hilton

Midfielder – Audi Jepson

Midfielder – Austin Martz

Midfielder – Kadeem Dacres

Forward – Albert Dikwa

Goalkeepers Tomas Gomez and Jake Fenlason combined for 12 clean sheets and 42 goals conceded (including playoffs) during the 2018 season. Gomez made 20 appearances with 24 goals conceded, a 68.8% save success rate and 7 clean sheets after overcoming an offseason surgery that saw his debut delayed until mid-May. Fenlason made 15 appearances with 18 goals conceded, a 65.4% save success rate—including a penalty save at home against Seattle Sounders FC 2 on August 4th—to preserve 5 clean sheets on the season.

Defenders Sam Fink, Sean Reynolds and Phanuel Kavita all played an integral role in defense last season as Saint Louis FC finished in the top 10 of the USL with 38 goals conceded in the regular season. Fink played 2,881 minutes over 33 appearances and tallied one goal and two assists during the season, including the game-winning goal away to Reno 1868 FC to spur Saint Louis FC to a four-game win streak in the middle of the season. Reynolds accumulated 2,971 minutes in 34 appearances to finish second on the team in overall minutes and played in all but one game during the season. Kavita made 31 appearances with 2,565 minutes and tallied one goal and one assist in 2018.

Midfielders Lewis Hilton, Kadeem Dacres, Austin Martz and Audi Jepson will return for the 2019 season after combining for four goals, ten assists and 97 chances created. Hilton led the team with 3,059 minutes over 34 appearances and scored three goals with a franchise-record six assists this season. Dacres made 28 appearances with 1,808 minutes and provided two assists and scored his lone goal with a curling effort from outside the box in the 4-1 home win over Las Vegas Lights FC on August 11th. Martz missed a majority of the season as he recovered from hip surgery but still managed to make 15 appearances and create 15 chances with two assists over 760 minutes. Jepson was signed in August and made four appearances with 158 minutes played during the remainder of the 2018 season.

Forwards Kyle Greig and Albert Dikwa combined for 16 goals and five assists which accounted for nearly 50% of Saint Louis FC goals scored during the 2018 season. Greig led the team in scoring with 13 goals over 1,940 minutes played to finish second in STLFC history for goals scored in a single season (Irvin Herrera – 14 goals – 2016). Dikwa scored three goals and provided three assists over 29 appearances as he was named to the USL “20 Under 20” list for the second consecutive season.

"We are really pleased to be bringing back a good core of players that understand our culture and expectations of what we want to build here at Saint Louis FC,” said STLFC Head Coach Anthony Pulis. “I would like to thank all of the players that are moving on for all their hard work and wish them the very best of luck in their future endeavors. We are working extremely hard right now to find the right pieces that fit our culture, our ‘team-first’ mentality, and style of play to improve our squad for 2019.”