SPARTANBURG, S.C. – For the second consecutive year, the 2021 regular-season Southern Conference champion, UNC Greensboro, has been selected as the preseason frontrunner to claim the 2022 SoCon men’s soccer title in voting completed by the league’s six head coaches. The Spartans, led by head coach Chris Rich, will be looking to capture their seventh championship title in program history and their first since 2020-21.
 
The Southern Conference men’s soccer head coaches also selected an 11-member preseason all-conference team, with UNCG garnering four selections total, Furman, Mercer and Wofford collecting two each, and ETSU securing one. The coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team or players in the balloting process.
 
UNCG amassed five first-place votes and finished with a total of 25 points, while Mercer accumulated one first place vote and finished tied for second with Furman, with both teams earning 19 points. ETSU clinched the fourth-place position and was separated from Mercer and Furman by seven points, finishing with a total of 12 points. Wofford (10) and VMI (5) were separated by five points and concluded the poll with a fifth-place and sixth-place finish, respectively. 
 
The Spartans, who were nationally ranked for the majority of the 2021 season and posted their first double-digit win season since 2017, recorded an overall record of 13-4-1 and a 5-1 record in conference play to finish in the No. 1 spot before falling to former SoCon member Belmont in the SoCon Men’s Soccer Championship semifinals. UNCG, which ended the season as the national leader in corner kicks per game (8.00), goal differential (38), points per game (8.39), and scoring offense (2.89), will see seven starters return for the 2022 season.
 
Among UNCG’s preseason all-conference picks, JC Ngando, who ranked second in the league in assists per game (0.53), tied for second in the conference in assists (8), collected Freshman of the Year, All-SoCon first-team and All-Freshman awards and was named to the United Soccer Coaches' All-South Region Third Team and College Soccer News All-Freshman Team a season ago, will return to the midfield for his sophomore season. Niclas Wild, the 2021 Goalkeeper of the Year and All-SoCon first-team selection, will return in front of the net for his junior season. Emmanuel Hagan and Marco Milanese, who were both All-SoCon first-team selections last season, will return as defenders for the Spartans.
 
Mercer, who posted an overall record of 10-8-1 and a record of 4-1-1 in league play en route to clinching the 2021 SoCon men’s soccer tournament title, put senior midfielders Ousman Jabang and Dylan Gaither, who earned first-team and second-team all-conference honors, respectively, last season, on this year’s preseason squad. Gaither ranked second in the league in goals (14), goals per game (0.74), points (32) and points per game (1.68), while Jabang tied with UNCG’s Ngando for second in the league in assists (8). Gaither was named College Soccer News’ National Player of the Week and earned a spot on CSN’s National Team of the Week on Nov. 9 and joined Jabang in representing the Bears on the Southern Conference All-Tournament team and the United Soccer Coaches’ All-South Region Third Team.
 
Led by the winningest coach in SoCon history, Doug Allison, the Furman Paladins will see seven starters return for the 2022 season, including two preseason all-conference selections in sophomore forward Jake Raine and junior defender Josh Hosie. The Paladins went 7-9-1 overall and finished the 2021 season with a 4-2 record in conference play. Raine, who was an All-SoCon first-team selection last season, led Furman with 27 points on 12 goals and three assists, while Hosie scored one goal on seven shots and totaled seven assists for nine points in his sophomore campaign. After recording six points on two goals and a pair of assists against UNC Asheville and VMI, Raine earned the offensive player of the week award for the week of Oct. 26-30 and was also honored as the league's Offensive Player of the Month for October. Raine, who ranked third in the SoCon in both points (27) and goals (12), also represented the Paladins on the United Soccer Coaches’ All-South Region Third Team.
 
Wofford placed senior forward Brandon Oddy and sophomore defender Amin Mohammedi on the preseason all-conference team. Both earned SoCon postseason honors following last season, with Oddy earning a spot on the all-conference second team and Mohammedi securing a place on the all-freshman team. The Terriers finished the 2021 season with a 5-11-1 overall record and a 1-4-1 mark in conference games.
      
ETSU, who finished the 2021 season with an overall record of 4-8-3 and a 1-3-2 record in conference play, rounds out the preseason honorees with one all-conference selection – forward Tarik Pannholzer. Pannholzer was the only player from the team last season to secure a first-team all-conference selection, as the junior forward finished second in the league in shots per game (3.20), fourth in points per game (1.47) and goals per game (0.67) and fifth in points (22) and goals (10).
 
The Southern Conference men’s soccer regular season begins on Thursday, Aug. 25, with all six SoCon men’s soccer teams competing on that day.

2022 Preseason Southern Conference Men’s Soccer Poll
Team (1st-place votes)    Total
1. UNCG (5)                            25
T2. Mercer (1)                        19
T2. Furman                            19
4. ETSU                                   12
5. Wofford                              10
6. VMI                                      5
 
2022 Preseason All-Southern Conference Men’s Soccer Team
F             Tarik Pannholzer, ETSU, Jr.
F             Jake Raine, Furman, Jr.
F             Brandon Oddy, Wofford, Sr.
MF          Dylan Gaither, Mercer, Sr.
MF          Ousman Jabang, Mercer, Sr.
MF          JC Ngando, UNCG, So.
D             Josh Hosie, Furman, Jr.
D             Emmanuel Hagan, UNCG, Jr.
D             Marco Milanese, UNCG, Sr.
D             Amin Mohammedi, Wofford, So.
GK          Niclas Wild, UNCG, Jr.