Men's Soccer picked fifth in NACC Preseason Poll
WAUKESHA, Wis. – The Concordia University Wisconsin Men's Soccer team was picked for a fifth place finish in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Preseason Poll, which was released by the league office Thursday morning. The poll is voted on by the conference's head coaches and sports information directors.
The Falcons welcome back a handful of key pieces from a team that went 6-3-1 in NACC play a season ago. That record was good enough for a fourth-place finish. CUW has finished inside the top four in the NACC since the league began in the 2006 season.
CUW will be led by a trio of captains this season in seniors Diego Campos (Milwaukee, Wis.) and Paul Stuebs (Neenah, Wis.), as well as junior Keegan Van Dusseldorp (Burlington, Wis.). Van Dusseldorp is the squads leading returner in points after scoring 22 a season ago.
Here are a few other notes from the NACC Preseason Poll:
- Dominican, an eight-time NACC champion, is predicted to win a ninth straight title this season. Last year the Stars split the regular season title with Benedictine, both team's finishing 8-1-1.
- Benedictine earned two first-place votes (DU received the other 20) and was slated for second place.
- MSOE was the first Wisconsin school to appear in the poll, ranking fourth, just one point behind third-place Aurora. The Raiders return last year's NACC Offensive Player of the Year Logan Andryk.
- The coaches and sports information directors predict the same six teams will make the NACC Tournament that did a season ago. In addition to DU, BU, MSOE and AU, the Falcons and Edgewood were slated for top six spots.
- Dominican has been the preseason favorite for each of the past nine seasons in the NACC. This year marks just the second time that another school received at least two first-place votes. Aurora gained a pair of first-place votes prior to the 2006 season.
2014 NACC Men's Soccer Preseason Poll
1) Dominican University (20), 240
2) Benedictine University (2), 194
3) Aurora University, 187
4) MSOE, 186
5) Concordia University Wisconsin, 170
6) Edgewood College, 133
7) Wisconsin Lutheran College, 113
8) Marian University, 76
9) Lakeland College, 75
10) Concordia University Chicago, 53
11) Rockford University, 25
