The USA South Athletic Conference's men's soccer coaches have released their 2022 preseason poll. Head coaches do not vote for their own teams in the balloting.
William Peace was placed atop the rankings thanks to receiving 46 total points and five of the possible eight first place votes. The Pacers finished last season with a 5-1-1 regular season Conference record and claimed the East Division Championship but fell in the semifinals of the USA South Tournament. N.C. Wesleyan, who was second in the poll, grabbed 43 total points and two first place votes. Brevard rounded out the top-three with 38 points and the final first place vote.
The Bishops (9-7-3) are coming off a runner-up finish in the East Division last season at 5-2 as well as a Conference Tournament Runner-Up Finish as they fell to Covenant in the finals. Wesleyan, led by first year head coach Mark Bowman, will open their season Sept. 1 with a road game at Mary Washington (Va.) at 4:00 Pm. The Bishops will have their home opener then on Sept. 6 at 4:00 PM when they host Washington & Lee (Va.).
Since the first Conference men's soccer preseason poll in 2003, the William Peace program, who first fielded a team in 2014, had yet to be picked to capture the title until this year. The team picked first in the poll's history has won the Conference championship seven out of 18 years. Conversely, the second place team in the poll has grabbed the League title on five occasions. Finally, the team picked first in the preseason poll has reached at least the semifinals of the Conference tournament every year and played for the championship 12 times.
The 2022 USA South Men's Soccer Tournament will once again be conducted exclusively on campus sites. The top-six seeded teams will advance to the tournament which will begin with first round action on Tuesday, November 1. The semifinals will take place Thursday, November 3 with the finals occurring on Saturday, November 5. The higher-seeded team in each contest will host.
https://usasouth.net/sports/msoc/2022-23/releases/20220817hzok7f
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