UNH Headlines Strong #AEMSOC Crop of Teams as Preseason Favorites
BOSTON – Fresh off winning its first-ever America East men’s soccer title, New Hampshire has been chosen as the conference’s preseason favorite according to the 2019 preseason coaches’ poll. The Wildcats headline a strong group of teams that have comprised one of the top men’s soccer conferences in the country over the last several years.
New Hampshire, which is ranked 30th in the College Soccer News preseason poll and received votes in the United Soccer Coaches’ poll, earned five first-place votes and 47 points. The Wildcats were followed closely by Stony Brook, the 2018 regular-season champion, which earned the other three first-place tallies and 40 points. UMBC, last year’s runner up, and UMass Lowell tied for third place with 34 points.
Here is the full poll:
2019 America East Men’s Soccer Preseason Poll
No. School Points (1st Place Votes)
1. New Hampshire 47 (5)
2. Stony Brook 40 (3)
T3. UMBC 34
UMass Lowell 34
5. Vermont 28
6. UAlbany 21
7. Binghamton 11
8. Hartford 9
Twenty-four players who earned All-Conference or All-Rookie status last year will be back in 2019, led by four players who’ve been named to the 2019 MAC Herman Trophy preseason watch list, including New Hampshire’s Josh Bauer, Antonio Colacci and Jack Doherty and UMBC’s Jon Bell. Bauer, an All-American last year as well as the America East Defender of the Year, is a preseason All-American this year.
The 2019 campaign kicks off with New Hampshire in action on Thursday, Aug. 29 and the other seven schools starting play on Friday, Aug. 30. The 28-game conference slate starts on Friday, Sept. 27 and runs through Wednesday, Nov. 6 and will no doubt be competitive as all eight teams have been league champion or regular-season champion, or reached the league title last five seasons. The top six teams in the standings will qualify for the America East Championship, which takes place at the higher seed in each round on Saturday, Nov. 10 (quarterfinals), Wednesday, Nov. 13 (semifinals) and Saturday, Nov. 16 or Sunday, Nov. 17 (championship game).
The league champion will earn the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, where 15 #AEMSOC teams have reached the NCAA second round in the last 18 years, two have earned at-large berths, three have reached the Sweet Sixteen in the last five seasons and UMBC made it all the way to the College Cup in 2014.
About America East: The America East provides its member schools and their athletic programs a platform upon which student-athletes can achieve both collegiate and life success through the promotion and nurturing of athletic excellence, academic achievement and leadership, on and off the field.
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