CHARLOTTE, N.C. ? The UNC Asheville men's soccer team is a preseason pick to finish in sixth place in the Big South Conference this year. The vote is done by the league's head coaches and the results of the poll were announced by the conference today.
For the third consecutive year, Winthrop University's was chosen first in the Big South Conference's annual preseason poll. In addition, the coaches voted Eagle senior forward Daniel Revivo the League's Preseason Player of the Year.
Winthrop, who looks to win its second championship in three years, received four first-place votes and 73 out of a possible 81 points in the voting and finished ahead of Liberty, which totaled four first-place votes and 72 points from the panel. The Eagles, led by coach Rich Posipanko, finished the 2007 season 3-2-1 in League play and 11-4-3 overall. The Eagles had the nation's 11th-best scoring offense as Winthrop put in 2.17 goals per game at season's end.
Coastal Carolina landed in the third spot with one first-place vote and 66 points, while Radford picked up 50 points to finish fourth. High Point rounded out the top five with 43 points. UNC Asheville landed the No. 6 slot with 34 points, followed by VMI, who notched 31 points. Big South newcomers Gardner-Webb was eighth with 24 points and Presbyterian finished up the poll with 12 points.
“We obviously hope to finish a little higher than sixth place but we have a ways to go before we can start worrying about that,” stated UNC Asheville coach Steve Cornish. “Our league is quite good and every match will be a tough one.
Revio garnered five first-place nods and 12 points from the panel. Liberty's Joshua Boateng, who joins Revivo on the Hermann Trophy Watch List, finished second in the voting with one top vote and seven points. UNC Asheville's Scott Szymanski picked up one first-place vote to finish third with four points. Kyle Russell of Coastal Carolina and Chris Curtis of VMI each received one first-place vote to round out the top five with two points each.
UNC Asheville opens the 2008 season at home on Sept. 6 against Appalachian State starting at 2 p.m. The men's soccer Conference Championship is scheduled for Thursday-Sunday, November 13-16 on the campus of Coastal Carolina University.
