Men's Soccer 8/27/2002 10:50:00 AM Southern Conference Furman Men's Soccer Ranked 13th GREENVILLE, SC -- The Furman men's soccer team is ranked 13th in thenation in the Soccer America preseason poll released on August 27. Indiana tops the Soccer America preseason ranking followed byVirginia, North Carolina, and Stanford. Furman is also ranked 10th in the College Soccer News poll and 21st inthe NSCAA preseason poll. Furman returns a wealth of talent including McNeil Cronin and ClintDempsey, the 2000 and 2001 Southern Conference freshmen-of-the-years, andsophomore Ricardo Clark, who spent much of the off-season training with theUnited States U-20 National Team. Furman also welcomes another strong recruiting class, one that wasranked as the third best in the nation by College Soccer News earlier thissummer. Furman's class includes three members of the United States U-17National Team and a member of the Trinidad and Tobago U-20 National Team. The Paladins have qualified for the NCAA Tournament each of the pastthree seasons, including a quarterfinal finish in 1999. Furman currentlyowns a 33-match Southern Conference unbeaten streak as it has won the lastthree SoCon regular season and tournament titles. Furman opens the 2002 campaign at The Citadel on Friday beforereturning home to host the Spinx/Land Rover Kickoff Classic September 6-8.The Paladins will take on Creighton, Notre Dame, St. Louis, South Carolina,and Clemson this season, all of whom were ranked in the Soccer America top25 preseason poll.