Story courtesy of UNC Greensboro sports information

 

GREENSBORO, NC ? Looking to defend its Southern Conference championship and return to the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive season, UNC Greensboro is ranked No. 18 in the College Soccer News Pre-season Top 30 poll.

 

UNCG, the only Southern Conference team to appear in CSN’s pre-season rankings, finished last season with a 16-6-1 mark overall, 5-1-0 in conference play. The Spartans shared the Southern Conference regular season title, their second straight regular season crown, and won the SoCon Tournament title. UNCG advanced to the NCAA Tournament’s third round for the second straight season, defeating James Madison and Virginia Tech. Both the Dukes and Hokies are rated in CSN’s pre-season poll, as well.

 

The Spartans graduated five seniors from last year’s squad, including four starters, but return their top two scorers in All-Americans Randi Patterson and Scott Jones. UNCG’s incoming class was rated the 13th best recruiting class in the country earlier this week by CSN, its highest ranking and marking the fourth straight year it received a Top 40 ranking.

 

Defending national champion Maryland is atop the pre-season rankings. SMU, which eliminated UNCG in the third round of the NCAA Tourney last season, was ranked No. 2, followed by North Carolina, Connecticut and Penn State.

 

UNCG will face three teams during the regular season that are ranked in CSN’s pre-season poll and all three of those meetings will be on the road.

 

The Spartans travel to Old Dominion and will face the 20th-ranked Monarchs in the second game of the ODU Tournament on Sept. 17 at 2:30 pm. UNCG also travels to face No. 19 Wake Forest on Oct. 18 and seventh-ranked Akron on Oct. 24 in an intriguing non-conference clash.

 

Much the same way UNCG was ranked No. 1 and was the last unbeaten in 2004, Akron was the “Cinderella” No. 1 last season and was the final team to lose its perfect record. The match will be the regular season finale for UNCG and could have major NCAA Tournament ramifications for both squads at that point of the season.

 

UNCG will face another ranked team during its exhibition season. The Spartans take on No. 12 Duke at UNCG Soccer Stadium in an exhibition match on August 16.

 

 

College Soccer News Pre-season Top 30 (Men’s Soccer)

 

1. Maryland

2. SMU

3. North Carolina

4. Connecticut

5. Penn State

6. Virginia

7. Akron

8. UCLA

9. New Mexico

10. Creighton

11. South Florida

12. Duke

13. Indiana

14. California

15. Clemson

16. Notre Dame

17. St. John’s

18. UNC Greensboro

19. Wake Forest

20. Old Dominion

21. UC Santa Barbara

22. San Francisco

23. Cal State Northridge

24. San Diego State

25. Virginia Tech

26. Santa Clara

27. St. Louis

28. Wisconsin-Milwaukee

29. South Carolina

30. Ohio State