THOMASVILLE, N.C. -- Limestone College earned the No. 1 spot in the 2008 Conference Carolinas preseason men's soccer poll as voted on by the league's head coaches. Limestone will try and build on its success from the last two seasons, which have seen the squad's best overall finishes in the Conference Carolinas standings, a conference tournament championship, and an NCAA tournament berth. Anderson was picked sixth in the preseason poll. The Saints have an experienced core of players returning, including team captains Tom Beattie, Ali Benson, and Dominic Casciato. Limestone's current roster features four NSCAA 2007 All-Region team members, the Conference Carolinas Freshman of the Year, and four All-Conference honorees. Chris Whalley returns for his fourth season as head coach at Lees-McRae after guiding the team to its best season in history in '07. The Bobcats finished the year with a program record 21 wins, (21-2-1 overall & 9-1 league), and qualified for the NCAA men's soccer championships for the first time in program history, winning the Southeast Regional before falling in the Elite Eight. After winning the Conference Carolinas regular season and tournament championships in '07, the first time in conference history a team has claimed both in the same season, the Bobcats return a great deal of experience with 17 letterwinners from last season. The Bobcats enter '08 as the No. 10 team in the country according to the NSCAA/adidas preseason poll. Belmont Abbey College is picked to finish third in the preseason coaches poll for the second consecutive year. The Abbey men's soccer team returns 18 starters from last season's 13-9-1 (6-4 conference) unit that advanced to the conference tournament semifinals. The Crusaders return all-conference performers Kyle Fenner and Paul Goding, who were two of the Crusaders five selections. Fenner was named to the second team, while Goding earned a spot on the third team. Both players went on to earn third-team all-region honors. Queens finished fourth in the poll with Pfeiffer fifth followed by Anderson, St. Andrews, Coker, Erskine, Mount Olive and Barton respectively rounding-out the poll standings. Conference Carolinas Men's Soccer Preseason Poll (# of First Place Votes in Parenthesis) 1. Limestone (4) 92 2. Lees-McRae (6) 91 3. Belmont Abbey 81 4. Queens (1) 76 5. Pfeiffer 61 6. Anderson 55 7. St. Andrews 46 8. Coker 35 10. Erskine 29 11. Mount Olive 21 12. Barton 18