ROCK HILL, S.C. – Anderson University men's soccer has been predicted to finish 10th in the South Atlantic Conference Preseason Coaches Poll, released by the SAC on Monday.
The defending National Champion Wingate Men's Soccer team has been voted the preseason favorite to win the 2017 South Atlantic Conference Men's Soccer Championship after receiving 10 first place votes and 100 points. Tusculum placed second in the poll with one top vote and 86 points. Lenoir-Rhyne finished third in the preseason poll with 82 points, ahead of Lincoln Memorial who posted 76 points. At No. 5 in the poll was Catawba with 58 points while Carson-Newman landed at No. 6 with 47 points. Mars Hill garnered 38 points to come in at No. 7 with Queens and Coker placing eighth and ninth, respectively.
Anderson (29 points) and Newberry (12 points) rounded out the 2017 South Atlantic Conference Preseason Men's Soccer Poll.
"Despite the preseason rankings, I truly believe this team can compete with anyone and the team is excited for the challenges ahead, said head coach Mike Zion. " I think the key now is to just take one game at a time. We will focus on the opponent ahead of us and that's it.
The Trojans finished 7-6-3 overall during the 2016 campaign with six matches ending in double overtime. The Black and Gold missed postseason play for the first time since joining the South Atlantic Conference.
"The teams ambitions are always set high," noted Zion. "We have a group of guys who want to be challenged and want to compete with the best teams in the country. Falling short last year has given us that extra motivation and determination to bounce back. At the end of the day we want to be ranked alongside the best teams in the region. We want to be hosting a conference tournament match at the end of October. If we can achieve these things, we will have put ourselves in a good position to hopefully extend our season a little further."
Anderson has a solid core returning while adding a slew of talented newcomers to the roster. The Trojans expect to push back up the ranks and play competitive soccer during the 2017 season.
"We have a lot of experienced players returning this year and many who will be influential in determining how successful the team will be, said Zion. "Many of the returners have played significant minutes and featured in a lot of games over the past few seasons. The depth we have through the team will certainly be one of our strengths, especially with such a tough schedule. Senior captain Josh Calabria, along with seniors Remi Lesterlou and Lars Kuala will be iatrical part of our success from a leadership standpoint. These players have a lot of experience and understand what it takes to be successful at the level. Cameron Emerson will be an exciting player to watch this year. He certainly has the ability to make a big impact throughout the season. Timo Herrmann is another player who will be looking toward to help lead an anchor our back line.
"The main goal with this recruiting class was to improve in areas that we were weak last year," added Zion. "We feel that we have done just that. The incoming players will certainly give us more attacking options to work with. With the addition of Thomas Joergsholm, Oriol Gomez, and Jhon Vaca we are hoping to produce more goals and have more of an attacking threat. In addition we have added some other strong players in Harry Ward and Gal Elashiv who will help bolster the defense."
The preseason first and second team selection were released today with Anderson's Calabria earning a spot on the second team.
The native of Canberra, Australia started 13 matches last season missing several starts, due to injury. As a defender, Calabria scored two goals (two game-winners) while tallying 13 shots with five coming on goal.
Anderson opens up its 2017 campaign on Friday, Aug. 31 against Montevallo. Kick-off is slated for 4 p.m. on the campus of Lee University in Cleveland, Tenn.
2017 SAC Men's Soccer Preseason Poll
School (first-place votes) Total
1. Wingate (10) 100
2. Tusculum (1) 86
3. Lenoir-Rhyne 82
4. Lincoln Memorial 76
5. Catawba 58
6. Carson-Newman 47
7. Mars Hill 38
8. Queens 37
9. Coker 36
10. Anderson 29
11. Newberry 12
2017 Preseason All-League
First Team All-Conference
F – Ismael Noumansana, Lenoir-Rhyne
F – Elma N'For, Wingate
F – Jon Ander, Wingate
F – Victor Peres, Lincoln Memorial
MF – Marc Fernandez, Lenoir-Rhyne
MF – Jens Roessler, Lenoir-Rhyne
MF – Danilo da Silva, Lincoln Memorial
MF – Tom Read, Carson-Newman
D – Georgios Charkoutsakis, Tusculum
D – Oscar Mitchell, Mars Hill
D – Vicente Munoz, Wingate
D – Damian Gaona, Wingate
GK – Pablo Jara, Wingate
Second Team All-Conference
F – Stian Sanner, Mars Hill
F – Jacob Simonis, Coker
F – Aladdin Elfares, Coker
F – Andreas Kvam, Tusculum
MF – Henrique Rezek, Lincoln Memorial
MF – David Fairgrieve, Wingate
MF – Mateo Correa, Wingate
MF – Ivan Andabak, Tusculum
D – Ronaldo de Jesus, Lincoln Memorial
D – Pau Peiro, Tusculum
D – Josh Calabria, Anderson
D – Claus Lehland, Newberry
GK – Joe Boyd, Carson-Newman