Men's Soccer
August 25, 2006
DEFENDING CONFERENCE CHAMPION LE MOYNE PICKED FOURTH IN PRESEASON COACHES POLL
SOUTH EASTON, Mass. - Defending conference champion Le Moyne has been picked fourth in the Northeast-10 Conference preseason coaches' poll. The Dolphins open the 2006 season today at Wilmington. Defending regular season champion and national finalist Franklin Pierce tops the poll of the league's 14 coaches.
The Ravens, who claimed the 2006 Regular Season Championship, also captured the NCAA New England Regional to later advance all the way to the NCAA Final Four. In the poll, Franklin Pierce totaled 195 points, including 13 first place votes. The Ravens are coming off a 16-6-5 overall record in 2006.
The Owls of Southern Connecticut State University receive 179 points with the remaining first place vote to place them second in the poll.
The River Hawks of University of Massachusetts Lowell (159) narrowly edge the 2005 Northeast-10 Tournament Champion, the Le Moyne College Dolphins (157), to place third and fourth respectively.
With 141 tallies, Merrimack College places fifth, while Southern New Hampshire University's 125 points garner the Penmen a sixth place position in the poll.
American International College (111), Bryant University (101), Saint Anselm College (89) and Bentley College (55) round out the top ten respectively.
Completing the poll's predictions for the upcoming season are Saint Michael's College (47), Stonehill College (43), The College of Saint Rose (40) and Assumption College (28).
In the 2005 Northeast-10 Men's Soccer Tournament, the No. 3 seed Dolphins claimed their first-ever NE-10 title with a 1-0 win over Franklin Pierce. Both teams earned bids to the NCAA New England Regional, where Franklin Pierce evened its postseason record with Le Moyne as they prevailed over the Dolphins en route to the NCAA Quarterfinal game against New York Tech. The Ravens, who advanced on penalty kicks in the quarterfinals, defeated SIU Edwardsville 1-0 in the national semifinals. Franklin Pierce then advanced to the National Championship match for the first time in program history, to which the Ravens suffered a 3-1 loss to the national champion, Fort Lewis.
The Northeast-10 tournament opens on October 24 with quarterfinal matches, followed by the NE-10 semifinals on October 27 and the championship on October 29.
- courtesy of the Northeast-10 Conference (http://www.northeast10.org)
