WMU men’s soccer picked third in preseason poll; ties with Hartwick College

By Zeke Trezevant
Sports Editor

Coaches around the Mid-American Conference voted the Western Michigan University men’s soccer team to finish third in the annual preseason poll.

Preseason national No. 1 Akron University took first, followed by Northern Illinois University and WMU and Harwick College tied for third place.

Stu Riddle, second year head coach, said that being “recognized in a much improved position compared to this time last year shows that over the past 12 months, we have garnered a good level of respect from all of the conference coaches.”

Riddle went on to say, “it is important, however, that we realize that a preseason poll counts for nothing,” and that “our in-and-out performances over the course of the seaon will give us the best indicator of our level of improvement as a program.”

The Broncos were picked to finish sixth in last year’s MAC preseason poll and exceeded those expectations by finishing in third place. The Brown and Gold also tied for the best regular-season finish in WMU history.

WMU returns 12 players, 10 letterwinners and 16 newcomers this year.

With just two seniors and three juniors, a strong sophomore class anchors the Bronco team.

The sophomore class accounted for seven goals and 17 assists last season.

The Broncos defeated Lewis University 4-2 in its first preseason game.

Lewis University is the third-ranked preseason Division II school in the country.

The men’s team has their first conference game on Oct. 1 against Bowling Green State University. The team will then host Florida Atlantic University on Sunday, Oct. 3 at the WMU Soccer Complex.

Kick-off for that game is scheduled for 10 a.m. and that game will also signify Starving Students Day.

Short URL: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=19536

Posted by HeraldAdmin on Aug 29 2010. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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