Men's soccer tied for No. 12 in NAIA poll
Bellevue University head men’s soccer coach Matt Briggs returns 11 letterwinners and seven starters from last season’s 14-4-1 squad that captured the 2008 Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference title, advancing to the NAIA Men’s Soccer National Championship for the first time in school history. The Bruins finished the 2008 season with a No. 6 final national ranking.
Headlining the list of Bruin returners is junior midfielder Mark Heath-Preston who led the team in scoring and was selection an honorable mention All-American as well as the MCAC Offensive Player of the Year.
Behind the strength of the school's first ever men's soccer national championship, Bethel (Tenn.) University was selected as the No. 1 team in the poll. Posting 19 of the 21 available first-place votes, the Wildcats earn 588 total points. Under third-year head coach Melvin Belong, Bethel enters the season on a 14-match unbeaten streak after going 17-5-2 in 2008. Bethel is a relative newcomer to the poll breaking over a one-year drought; the last time the Wildcats were ranked was Oct. 10, 2007 at No. 23.
Sophomore Mario Vila Boa, who was the 2008 National Championship Most Valuable Player, returns with three other core members of last year's TranSouth Athletic Conference Championship team. Second Team All-American Felix Obilio, All-TranSouth Conference performer Armando Orozco and senior goaltender Massimo Collu-Marchese, who compiled six shut-outs in 18 matches played, all are expected back. The Wildcats lift the lid on the 2009 campaign with a home match against Christian Brothers (Tenn.) on Aug. 21.
With 572 total points, Rio Grande (Ohio) earned the No. 2 spot. The Red Storm lost to Bethel in the 2008 National Championship final by a score of 2-1 in overtime. Credited with one first-place vote, Rio Grande welcomes back junior Ederson Lopes, a Second Team All-American and American Mideast Player of the Year.
Oklahoma City, a squad seeded No. 1 in the 2008 National Championship, stands at No. 3 in the poll. The Stars are coming off a 20-3-1 record and tallied 540 total points and one first-place vote. Mt. Vernon Nazarene (Ohio), who is tabbed at No. 4, is at its highest spot in program history. Starting with its first ever ranking at No. 25 back on Nov. 4, 2008, the Cougars have slid up in each of the last four polls. Behind the return of First Team All-American Jon Fahey, Concordia (Calif.) is at No. 5 with 490 total points.
The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences, independents and unaffiliated groups. The first regular season Top 25 poll will be announced on Sept. 8.
Notes: Bethel (Tenn.) is in its first preseason poll since a No. 16 early-season ranking in 2005... There has been a new No. 1 in the preseason poll in the last seven years (Bethel in 2009, Azusa Pacific in 2008, Graceland in 2007, Lindsey Wilson in 2006, Lindenwood in 2005, Rio Grande in 2004, Auburn Montgomery in 2003)... Rio Grande (Ohio), this year's preseason No. 2, was ranked in the top slot for four straight weeks last season... With the No. 1 ranking, Bethel breaks an absence of 15 polls of not being ranked spanning back to the 2007 season... Senior Eric Winblad of Azusa Pacific (Calif.) returns as the reigning Brine-NAIA National Player of the Year - his Cougars sit No. 10 in the ranking... With a No. 6 ranking, Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) is not in the top five for the first time in 12 polls.
2009 NAIA Men's Soccer Coaches' Preseason Top 25 Poll - (Aug. 18)
|
RANK |
LAST POLL* |
SCHOOL (1st PLACE VOTES) |
2008 RECORD |
TOTAL POINTS |
|
1 |
RV |
Bethel University (Tenn.) (19) |
17-5-2 |
588 |
|
2 |
12 |
University of Rio Grande (Ohio) (1) |
19-4-1 |
572 |
|
3 |
4 |
Oklahoma City University (1) |
20-3-1 |
540 |
|
4 |
7 |
Mount Vernon Nazarene University (Ohio) |
18-4-2 |
536 |
|
5 |
9 |
Concordia University (Calif.) |
12-6-2 |
490 |
|
6 |
1 |
Lindsey Wilson College (Ky.) |
18-2-1 |
482 |
|
7 |
2 |
Notre Dame College (Ohio) |
19-2-1 |
463 |
|
8 |
8 |
University of Maine at Fort Kent |
20-1-2 |
440 |
|
9 |
14 |
University of Mobile (Ala.) |
13-7-2 |
428 |
|
10 |
5 |
Azusa Pacific University (Calif.) |
13-4-3 |
417 |
|
11 |
15 |
Hastings College (Neb.) |
19-4-1 |
390 |
|
12 |
21 |
Baker University (Kan.) |
14-7-2 |
369 |
|
12 |
6 |
Bellevue University (Neb.) |
14-4-1 |
369 |
|
14 |
3 |
Hannibal-LaGrange College (Mo.) |
16-2-2 |
347 |
|
15 |
11 |
Simon Fraser University (B.C.) |
11-5-1 |
280 |
|
16 |
17 |
Southern Nazarene University (Okla.) |
14-5-1 |
259 |
|
17 |
18 |
Northwood University (Fla.) |
15-2-3 |
258 |
|
18 |
23 |
Auburn University Montgomery (Ala.) |
12-5-1 |
240 |
|
19 |
16 |
MidAmerica Nazarene University (Kan.) |
14-5 |
215 |
|
20 |
RV |
Madonna University (Mich.) |
17-3 |
172 |
|
21 |
19 |
Lambuth University (Tenn.) |
13-4-2 |
171 |
|
22 |
RV |
Vanguard University (Calif.) |
9-6-2 |
164 |
|
23 |
20 |
McKendree University (Ill.) |
14-4-2 |
150 |
|
24 |
25 |
William Carey University (Miss.) |
12-5-1 |
139 |
|
25 |
RV |
Concordia University (Ore.) |
14-6-2 |
129 |
Others receiving votes:
University of the Cumberlands (Ky.) 87; Westmont College (Calif.) 86; Park University (Mo.) 81; Graceland University (Iowa) 66; Bethel College (Ind.) 66; Belhaven College (Miss.) 55; Grand View University (Iowa) 49; Illinois Institute of Technology 46; University of Texas at Brownsville 36; Holy Names University (Calif.) 29; Lee University (Tenn.) 19; Bryan College (Tenn.) 17; Aquinas College (Mich.) 17; Warner University (Fla.) 16; Judson University (Ill.) 16; Oklahoma Baptist University 14; Indiana Wesleyan University 12; Roberts Wesleyan College (N.Y.) 11; The Master's College (Calif.) 11; Benedictine College (Kan.) 5; Montreat College (N.C.) 5; Fresno Pacific University (Calif.) 3; Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Fla.) 3; College of Idaho 1; Saint Ambrose University (Iowa) 1; Science and Arts of Oklahoma (Okla.) 1; Doane College (Neb.) 1
* Rating from the 2008 final regular season poll.