NEW HAVEN, CT (August 11, 2009) - If the preseason poll is any indication, the 2009 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Men's Soccer season should be as competitive as ever. Five teams received at least one first-place nod in the poll, and the No. 3 through No. 6 spots were separated by only 10 votes. The poll was voted upon by the 12 CACC head coaches. Post University, the defending CACC Champion, was chosen first with 129 points. Dominican College was next with 117 votes, while Wilmington University (109), Philadelphia University (103) and Bloomfield College (102) round out the top five.

Post led the way with six first-place votes, while Philadelphia and Caldwell College each garnered two. Dominican and Holy Family University were each tabbed first on one ballot.

Post returns seven starters from a team that went 14-4-3 overall and 6-2-2 in conference play in 2008. The Eagles finished the season strong, going 7-0-2 over their final nine matches, including a convincing 6-2 triumph over Holy Family in the CACC Tournament championship match. Rising senior Johan Pineda scored two goals and two assists in that game en route to being named Tournament MVP. The Eagles return three of their top four scorers from a year ago in senior forward Eurica Trowers, junior forward Frantzy Noze and Pineda. Trowers tied for the league lead in goals (17) last season and ranked second in points (38).

Dominican went 11-4-2 overall and 7-1-2 in conference action last season. The Chargers were the top seed for the CACC Tournament, but fell to Holy Family in the semi-final round. Leading the list of returning players is senior forward Joe Wright, who led the Chargers in scoring with 12 goals and 27 points before suffering a season-ending injury in the 12th game of the season.  Despite the injury, he finished first in the conference in points per-game (2.25) and goals per-game (1.00). Also back are two second team All-CACC selections in senior midfielder James Hamilton and sophomore goal-keeper Brandon Heembrock.

Wilmington went 9-9-2 overall and 4-5-1 in the CACC last season and returns eight starters, including three-time All-CACC first team forward, Sargbah Tarpeh. Tarpeh ranked fourth in the CACC with 36 points and 14 goals last season. Also back is second team All-CACC midfielder Fatoma Turay. The Wildcats garnered their first-ever national ranking (23rd) last season on Sept. 9.

The 2009 season begins on Thursday, Aug. 27, with five teams in action (Wilmington, Caldwell, Dominican, Nyack and Bloomfield). Wilmington and Nyack will be hosting tournaments to kick off the campaign. All 12 CACC teams will open conference play on Saturday, Sept. 12, including conference newcomer Concordia College, which will be hosting its first CACC game against Goldey-Beacom College.

The 2009 CACC Men's Soccer preseason poll is below.

 

	CACC Men's Soccer
	2009 Preseason Poll
School	2008 Records	Points
1. Post (6)	14-4-3/6-2-2 CACC	127
2. Dominican (1)	11-4-2/7-1-2	117
3. Wilmington	9-9-2/4-5-1	109
4. Philadelphia (2)	11-6-3/6-3-1	103
5. Bloomfield	10-7-2/7-2-1	102
6. Caldwell (2)	11-7-1/8-1-1	99
7. Holy Family (1)	9-12-1/4-6	85
8. Nyack	6-13-1/3-7	63
9. Felician	6-10-1/3-7	44
10. Concordia	5-9-3/0-5-3*	33
11. Goldey-Beacom	3-13/2-8	27
12. Chestnut Hill	2-17-1/1-9	25
()-First Place Votes
*-As member of ECC