Greenville, S.C. -- The Furman Paladins are ranked 20th in the College Soccer News Preseason Top 30 and No. 25 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America preseason men’s soccer poll, which were released on Tuesday afternoon.

 

The Paladins return six starters and 18 letter winners from a 2007 squad that posted a 19-4-0 record on their way to the school’s 18th Southern Conference regular season title and 11th SoCon Tournament crown.  Furman downed Campbell 2-0 in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament before falling 1-0 at eventual national champion Wake Forest in round two.

 

Furman opens its 2008 schedule on August 23, with a 7 p.m. exhibition contest versus the Demon Deacons in Winston-Salem, N.C.  Head coach Doug Allison’s team begins regular season play at UNC Wilmington on August 31.

 

College Soccer News Preseason Top 30

1. Wake Forest

2. Connecticut

3. Maryland

4. Indiana

5. Santa Clara

6. Boston College

7. Creighton

8. Saint Louis

9. UC Santa Barbara

10. Brown

11. South Florida

12. SMU

13. California

14. UCLA

15. Notre Dame

16. Northwestern

17. UIC

18. Akron

19. New Mexico

20. Furman

21. Louisville

22. Massachusetts

23. Ohio State

24. Cal Poly

25. Tulsa

26. Harvard

27. Old Dominion

28. Loyola (Md)

29. North Carolina

30. UC Davis

 

NSCAA Preseason Top 25

1. Wake Forest

2. Connecticut

3. Notre Dame

4. Boston College

5. Santa Clara

6. Creighton

7. Indiana

8. Maryland

9. Ohio State

10. Virginia Tech

11. Brown

12. Akron

13. UMass

14. UCLA

15. West Virginia

16. UIC

17. SMU

18. South Florida

19. Saint Louis

20. Northwestern

21. Bradley

22. UC Santa Barbara

23. Tulsa

24. North Carolina

25. Furman