UNCW PREDICTED TO REPEAT AS CAA MEN'S SOCCER CHAMPS IN 2010
RICHMOND, Va. (August 9, 2010) –
UNC Wilmington, which returns 10 starters from last season’s 14-3-5 squad that captured its first CAA men’s soccer title, is predicted to repeat as conference champion again this season according to a vote of the league’s 12 men’s soccer coaches.
The Seahawks claimed the top spot in the poll after receiving eight of a possible 11 first-place votes and 114 total points.
Old Dominion was second in the voting with 100 points while 2008 champion
George Mason got one first-place vote and was third with 96 points.
Northeastern received two first-place votes and was fourth with 89 points and
William and Mary placed fifth with 83 points.
James Madison, which also picked up a first-place vote, was sixth,
Hofstra and
VCU were tied for seventh,
Towson was picked ninth,
Delaware and
Drexel were tied for 10th and
Georgia State was 12th.
UNCW ended the 2009 season ranked #18 in the nation by Soccer America after winning its second straight CAA regular-season crown, capturing the CAA tournament title and advancing to the second round of the NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship. The Seahawks return 10 starters from a year ago and are ranked #17 nationally by College Soccer News in its 2010 preseason poll. UNCW features three all-conference performers in senior All-America defender
Indy Smith (2g), senior midfielder
Daniel Roberts (4g, 5a) and senior goalkeeper
Brock Duckworth (0.64 GAA, 93 svs). Sophomore
Etienne Boulanger (5g, 1a) made the CAA All-Rookie team.
Old Dominion, which has made six NCAA Tournament appearances in the past eight years, welcomes back six starters from last year’s 11-5-2 squad. Leading the list of returnees for the Monarchs are third-team All-CAA goalkeeper
Evan Newton (0.75 GAA, 54 svs.), second-team All-CAA forward
Yannick Smith (4g, 5a) and CAA All-Rookie forward
Shane Howard (3g, 6a).
George Mason, which won the CAA championship in 2008, has nine starters back from last year’s 10-7-1 team. Among the returnees for the Patriots are senior forward
Victor Freeman (7g, 4a), a 2nd team All-CAA selection, senior forward
Ernesto Marquez (4g, 3a), a 3rd team All-CAA pick, and sophomore defender
Ryan Reichmann, who made the CAA All-Rookie squad.
Northeastern has advanced to the CAA championship game for the past two years and returns 16 lettermen from last season’s 10-8-1 unit. The Huskies feature a pair of first-team All-CAA performers in senior defender
Santiago Bedoya (1g, 5a) and sophomore forward
Don Anding (7g, 2a), who was the 2009 CAA Rookie of the Year. Also back are junior midfielder
Mike Kennedy (4g, 5a) and senior defender
Matt Sanford, who were third-team All-CAA picks.
Traditionally regarded as one of the top men’s soccer conferences in the nation, the CAA has sent multiple teams to the NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship in 12 of the 15 past seasons and has had at least one team advance to the round of 16 of the NCAA’s in five of the last eight years.
2010 CAA MEN’S SOCCER PRE-SEASON COACHES POLL
1. UNC Wilmington (8 first-place votes) 114
2. Old Dominion 100
3. George Mason (1 first-place vote) 96
4. Northeastern (2 first-place votes) 89
5. William and Mary 83
6. James Madison (1 first-place vote) 78
7. Hofstra 61
VCU 61
9. Towson 44
10. Delaware 27
Drexel 27
12. Georgia State 12
(Teams received 11 points for a first-place vote, 10 for second, etc. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team.)