UB Men's Soccer Picked To Finish In A Fourth Place Tie With UDC In 2015 Preseason Coaches Poll
Purple Knights Open The 2015 Season In Just One Week At Home Against Nyack On September 3
Central Islip, N.Y. - The soccer coaches of the East Coast Conference have selected LIU Post as the favorite to win the league's Men's Soccer Championship in 2015. Seniors Per Forgaard (Stavanger, Norway) of LIU Post and Gonzalo Barroso (Madrid, Spain) of NYIT have earned the ECC Preseason Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year awards, respectively.
LIU Post received nine of 11 first place votes to top the poll with 119 points. The Pioneers are coming off a 16 win season that saw them share the ECC Regular Season Championship and capture their first-ever NCAA East Region title. They also begin the 2015 campaign ranked at No. 11 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Preseason Top 25 poll.
Defending ECC Champion, NYIT, comes in at No. 2 in the poll with one first place vote and 102 points. The Bears ended LIU Post's quest for a three-peat with a 1-0 victory over the Pioneers in the ECC Championship Game. NYIT finished the 2014 season with a 14-3-1 record after bowing out of the NCAA Division II Tournament in a rematch with conference rival, LIU Post. ECC Championship participant, Dowling, finished with 89 points to round out the top three. Molloy, who also participated in the 2014 ECC Championship, received the final first place vote despite finishing at No. 6 in the preseason poll.
The top four teams in the conference standings qualify for the East Coast Conference Championship Tournament.
Forgaard, a senior midfielder, earns the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year honor. In 23 games in 2014, he tallied eight goals and nine assists to finish with 25 points. All three totals ranked in the top-five in the conference. His outstanding season led to being named to the All-Conference team for the third straight season as well as a second consecutive All-America selection.
Barroso, the reigning ECC Defensive Player of the Year, is the coaches' preseason pick to win the award once again. In 2014, Barroso was an integral member of NYIT's stout defense that shut out seven opponents and allowed a conference-low 17 goals and 0.95 goals against average. His stellar play led to numerous honors in addition to the Defensive Player of the Year award, including spots on the All-Conference First Team, Daktronics and NSCAA All-Region Teams, and the Daktronics All-America squad.
2015 ECC Men's Soccer Preseason Poll
|
School |
Pts. |
2014 Record |
|
1. LIU Post (9) |
119 |
16-5-2 (8-1-1 ECC) |
|
2. NYIT (1) |
102 |
14-3-1 (8-1-1 ECC) |
|
3. Dowling |
89 |
10-6-2 (7-3-0 ECC) |
|
T4. Bridgeport |
74 |
5-9-1 (4-5-1 ECC) |
|
T4. District of Columbia |
74 |
9-7-1 (5-5-0 ECC) |
|
6. Molloy (1) |
63 |
5-11-2 (5-4-1 ECC) |
|
7. Roberts Wesleyan |
54 |
11-7-3 (5-5-0 ECC) |
|
8. Queens |
46 |
5-9-1 (3-7-0 ECC) |
|
9. Mercy |
43 |
3-14-0 (2-8-0 ECC) |
|
10. St. Thomas Aquinas |
39 |
7-7-3 (4-6-0 ECC) |
|
11. Daemen |
18 |
5-10-0 (2-8-0 ECC) |
( ) – first place votes