Sunday, August 26, 2018

UDC Men’s Soccer Tops East Coast Conference Preseason Poll

Men's Soccer vs. Barton College, 9/13/17
Head Coach Matt Thompson enters his 7th season as head coach at UDC.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- After earning the program's first-ever East Coast Conference and NCAA Division II Championship berths a season ago, the University of the District of Columbia men's soccer team starts 2018 atop the ECC Preseason Coaches' Poll.

UDC received six of 10 first-place votes to top the coaches' survey with 93 points. The Firebirds posted the most successful season in program history in 2017 with a 15-7 record, a runner-up finish in the ECC Championship, and a first-ever NCAA Championship berth and victory.

Expectations are high for UDC due in part to the return of six All-Conference honorees, including the ECC Offensive Player of the Year, Gabriel Torres.

Image result for east coast conference logoWith four first-place votes and 88 points, LIU Post comes in at No. 2 in the poll, marking the first time since 2011 the Pioneers have not started the season as the favorite to capture the league's championship. The Pioneers, who won their 5th ECC title in six years and 3rd NCAA East Region Championship in four years last season, will take to the pitch under new head coach, Michael Mordocco. LIU Post lost five All-Conference honorees from last year's roster, but ECC Goalkeeper of the Year, Oliver Hessner Hansen, and Rookie of the Year, Lukas Ostermann, return for the Pioneers.

Mercy College and New York Institute of Technology come in at No. 3 and No. 4 with 75 and 74 points, respectively, to round out the teams expected to make the ECC's postseason tournament.

2018 ECC Men's Soccer Preseason Poll
School
Pts.     
2017 Record
1. Dist. Columbia (6)
93
15-7-0 (6-3-0 ECC)
2. LIU Post (4)
88
18-1-2 (8-0-1 ECC)
3. Mercy
75
13-5-0 (7-2-0 ECC)
4. NYIT
74
9-9-1 (5-4-0 ECC)
5. Queens
50
8-6-2 (4-3-2 ECC)
6. Bridgeport
43
4-10-1 (3-5-1 ECC)
7. Molloy
42
5-12-0 (3-6-0 ECC)
8. St. Thomas Aquinas     
38
5-9-1 (3-6-0 ECC)
9. Daemen
34
7-11-0 (3-6-0 ECC)
10. Roberts Wesleyan
13
4-13-0 (1-8-0 ECC)
( ) - first place votes
UNIVERSITY OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ATHLETICS MEDIA RELATIONS

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