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Patriot League Announces 2008 Men's Soccer Preseason Poll
August 28, 2008
Center Valley, Pa.- Colgate was chosen to win the 2008 Patriot League Men's Soccer championship in a preseason vote by head coaches and sports information directors. The defending Patriot League champions received 13 first-place votes and 94 overall points. Coaches and sports information directors cannot vote for their own teams. The Holy Cross Crusaders received 76 overall points and one first-place vote, giving them the second spot in the poll. Bucknell was selected to finish in third place with one first-place vote and 62 overall points. Lafayette received one less overall point than Bucknell, 61, and was selected to finish fourth in the conference. Lehigh and American are predicted to finish fifth and sixth with 59 and 46 overall points, respectively. Army received the remaining first-place vote and was voted to finish seventh with 29 overall points. Navy rounds out the poll with 21 overall points. Coaches and sports information directors also voted for Preseason Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year for the first time. Lehigh's Kyle Evans was voted Preseason Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year, while Colgate's David Cappuccio was selected as the Preseason Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year. Colgate comes into the 2008 season as the defending Patriot League Tournament champion. Last year's squad won nine games, and led the conference in shots and saves. Colgate has 25 letterwinners returning to the team this year, along with nine starters. The 2007 team was defeated in the first round of the NCAA tournament, losing 2-1 to South Florida. Holy Cross received one first-place vote and 76 overall points. The Crusaders earned the top seed in last season's Patriot League tournament, but lost to Lafayette 2-1 in the semifinals. Holy Cross returns eight starters from last year's team and the 2007 Patriot League Rookie of the Year, Kyle Miller. Bucknell's Conor O'Brien is one of 23 letterwinners returning from last year's team. O'Brien, who was recently named to the Missouri Athletic Club's Hermann Trophy Watch List, was a Second-Team All-Patriot League selection and was second in the League in points with 19. The Bison finished last season third in the Patriot League with a record of 4-2-1. Lafayette finished last season with a 10-4-6 overall record. The Leopards led the league in shutouts and were second in saves behind the outstanding play of goalkeeper Philip Nelson. Nelson posted a conference-best eight shutouts and finished the season with a goals-against average of 0.58. Sixteen letterwinners and eleven starters are returning for Lafayette. Lehigh is returning nine starters from last season, including Kyle Evans, another Patriot League player named to the Hermann Trophy Watch List. Evans, Lehigh's first player to be named to the Watch List, led the Patriot League in goals (11) and points (25) last season. Lehigh ended last season on a two-game winning streak, and finished the season with an overall record of 8-7-2 and 3-4-0 in Patriot League play. American finished fifth in the Patriot League last season with a record of 3-2-2 and 6-9-3 overall. Ten starters and 17 letterwinners are returning to Coach Todd West's team. Army returns eight letterwinners and three starters from last year's team, including goalkeeper A.J. Glubzinski, who was among the conference leaders in saves, shutouts and goals-against average. The Cadets posted a 9-7-2 overall record last season. Navy went winless in Patriot League play last season, but Head Coach Rich Miranda is looking to turn things around with five members of last year's team returning this season. Evans, a 2007 First-Team All-Patriot League selection, also led Lehigh in shots on goal (23) and game-winning goals (3) in 2007. He ranked 20th in Division I in points per game and 14th in goals per game. Cappuccio led the conference in saves and was second in shutouts. Cappuccio's outstanding goalkeeping helped Colgate earn the 37th best Division I goals-against average of 0.84 and 27h best shutout percentage of 0.45. The Patriot League season begins Friday with six teams in non-League action to begin a full opening weekend of play. For more information, refer to the 2008 Men's Soccer Webguide
2008 Patriot League Men's Soccer Preseason Poll
2008 Patriot League Men's Soccer Preseason Awards Patriot League Preseason Offensive Player of the Year Kyle Evans, Lehigh
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