Men's Soccer Southern Conference

Men's Soccer Coaches Pick Furman to Win League

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Furman edged defending regular-season Southern Conference champion Wofford in balloting among the six league head coaches in the 2014 SoCon men’s soccer preseason poll. The coaches also selected an 11-member preseason all-conference team, with the Paladins and Terriers each placing four players on the squad.

Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams or players in the balloting.

Furman collected three first-place votes and 22 total points in the poll, while Wofford was right behind with 2S1 points and two first-place votes. League newcomer ETSU, which won the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament championship last season, was picked to finish third in the SoCon with 17 points and picked up the remaining first-place vote.

The Bucs finished a point ahead of UNCG, which garnered 16 points to take fourth in the poll, followed by Mercer (nine points), another newcomer from the A-Sun, and VMI (five points), which rejoins the SoCon after 11 years in the Big South Conference.

Furman went 11-5-2 overall and 2-2-2 in the SoCon in 2013 and was ranked as high as No. 11 nationally during the campaign.

2013 SoCon Freshman of the Year Bobby Edet paces four Paladins on the preseason all-conference side, as the forward led Furman with 15 points on seven goals and an assist last year en route to second-team All-SoCon honors. He is joined on the preseason squad by Furman teammates Tyler Peoples in the midfield, Dylan Rowe in the defense and Sven Lissek at goalkeeper. Lissek was also a second-team all-conference pick last year and led the league with nine shutouts and a 0.64 goals against average.

Midfielder Connor Davis headlines the squad for the Terriers, as he is the top returning scorer in the league this season after posting 27 points on 11 goals and five assists in 2013. He led the SoCon with 1.42 points per game and was a first-team all-conference selection. Davis, who was recently named to the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List, helped Wofford to an 11-7-1 overall mark and a 5-1-0 league record as the Terriers won their second regular-season SoCon title in 2013.

Wofford placed two forwards on the preseason team in Nestor Jaramillo, the 2012 SoCon Freshman of the Year, and Matthew Aurednik, a second-team All-SoCon and an All-Freshman pick last year. Defender Forrest Lasso, a second-team All-SoCon choice in 2013, is the fourth Terrier on the preseason squad.

ETSU put two players on the preseason all-conference team, with forward Emmanuel Wilson and midfielder Donte Brangman earning spots. Wilson was one of just six Bucs to play in all 20 games last season, scoring 10 points on four goals and two assists as ETSU won its second A-Sun tournament title in four years.

Mercer defender Ashani Samuels, a first-team All-Atlantic Sun pick in each of the last two seasons, rounds out the preseason SoCon team.

The 2014 regular season begins on Friday, Aug. 29, with five of the league schools in action. VMI opens its season Saturday, Aug. 30. The 2014 SoCon Men’s Soccer Championship will see the top two squads earn byes into the semifinals, while the Nos. 3-6 seeds will compete in quarterfinal contests on campus sites on Nov. 8. The semifinals and final will take place at the UNCG Soccer Stadium in Greensboro, N.C., on Nov. 13 and 15, respectively.

2014 Men’s Soccer Preseason Coaches’ Poll
1. Furman (3)    22
2. Wofford (2)    21
3. ETSU (1)      17
4. UNCG          16
5. Mercer          9
6. VMI              5

() denotes first-place votes

2014 Men’s Soccer Preseason All-Conference Team
F    Emmanuel Wilson, ETSU
F    Bobby Edet, Furman
F    Matthew Aurednik, Wofford
F    Nestor Jaramillo, Wofford
M   Donte Brangman, ETSU
M   Tyler Peoples, Furman
M   Connor Davis, Wofford
D    Dylan Rowe, Furman
D    Ashani Samuels, Mercer
D    Forrest Lasso, Wofford
GK Sven Lissek, Furman

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