The South Atlantic Conference Announces 2016 Men’s Soccer Preseason Poll and All-South Atlantic Conference
ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – The Wingate Men's Soccer team has been voted the preseason favorite to win the 2016 South Atlantic Conference Men's Soccer Championship, the League announced today. The Bulldogs will look to repeat as Conference champions after defeating Queens in last year's championship game. It was Wingate's first Conference Championship since 2002. Wingate University also ranks 18th in the NSCAA (National Soccer Coaches Association of America) Preseason Poll.
Wingate finished the 2015 season with a 14-4-4 overall record and 9-2 in the Conference. The Bulldogs defeated Lander University in the first round of the 2015 NCAA Men's Soccer Championship but were fell to Pfeiffer in penalty kicks in the second round.
Carson-Newman finished second in the voting with 112 points from the panel. The Eagles closed out their 2015 season at 15-3-2 overall and 9-2 in South Atlantic Conference play.
Lincoln Memorial placed third in the preseason poll and earned 95 points. The Railsplitters turned in a 10-3-3 record overall and finished at 7-3-1 in the League during the 2015 season.
Queens landed in fourth-place with 92 points and placed ahead of Tusculum who picked up 77 points and placed fifth. Queens was 10-8-1 overall and 7-4 in the conference just a season ago. The Tusculum Pioneers finished with a 9-6-2 overall record a season ago and went 6-4-1 in SAC contests.
Anderson's 71 points landed them in sixth, while Lenoir-Rhyne was close behind in seventh with 65 points.
Anderson finished at 8-8-1 overall and 7-4 in South Atlantic Conference action, while Lenoir-Rhyne wrapped up its season with an 8-8-2 overall mark and a 5-5-1 South Atlantic Conference record.
Mars Hill landed in the eighth position with 46 points, while Catawba placed ninth in the poll with 44 points.
The Lions posted a 4-10-1 overall record during the 2015 season and went 3-7-1 in South Atlantic Conference action. Catawba College finished at 5-11 overall and 3-8 in SAC games during the 2015 season.
Coker landed the 10th spot on the preseason poll with 33 points. The Cobras were 3-10-1 overall in 2015 and finished 3-8 in South Atlantic Conference play.
Newberry (26 points) and Brevard (12 points) rounded out the 2016 South Atlantic Conference Men's Soccer Preseason Poll.
The preseason first and second teams were also announced today. Wingate topped the South Atlantic Conference with six first-team selections, followed by Carson-Newman with two players on the first-team. Lincoln Memorial, Anderson, Queens, Lenoir Rhyne, and Mars Hill also garnered one selection each.
Wingate's Jon Ander leads the first-team forwards. Ander finished first last year in shots (77) and goals (11).
Tom Read of Carson-Newman, Corey Brown of Queens, and Ismael Noumansana of Lenoir-Rhyne joined Ander on the list of first-team forwards. Read put in eight goals for the Eagles and handed out 14 assists during the 2015 season. Brown posted nine scores and 11 assists in 2015, while Noumansana scored eight goals last season.
Askel Juul and Callum Ross from Wingate highlight the list of first-team midfielders. Juul scored 5 times to go along with nine assists a season ago. Ross recorded 7 goals and 5 assists. He was also tied for No. 4 in the South Atlantic Conference with seven goals.
Henrique Rezek from Lincoln Memorial and Thibault Mathorez from Carson-Newman were also tabbed first-team midfielders. Rezek recorded 4 goals and 4 assists while starting all 16 games that he appeared. Mathorez finished the year with five goals and one assists.
The first-team defenders list features Alex Nelson from Wingate, Guillermo Lazcano from Tusculum. Wingate's Damian Gaona and Ryo Ogawa of Anderson round out the first-team midfielders.
Pablo Jara from Wingate was voted the first-team goalkeeper after leading the South Atlantic Conference in minutes played with 2057:22. Jara also recorded 10 shutouts in his 14 wins, which lead both categories.
The 2016 South Atlantic Conference Men's soccer season is set to get underway on Thursday, Sept. 1.
2016 SAC Men's Soccer Preseason Poll
| Rank | School (First-Place Votes) | Points |
| 1 | Wingate (9) | 119 |
| 2 | Carson-Newman (3) | 112 |
| 3 | Lincoln Memorial | 98 |
| 4 | Queens | 95 |
| 5 | Tusculum | 77 |
| 6 | Anderson | 71 |
| 7 | Lenoir-Rhyne | 65 |
| 8 | Mars Hill | 46 |
| 9 | Catawba | 44 |
| 10 | Coker | 33 |
| 11 | Newberry | 26 |
| 12 | Brevard | 12 |
2016 South Atlantic Conference Men's Soccer Preseason All-SAC
F – Jon Ander, Wingate
F – Tom Read, Carson-Newman
F – Corey Brown, Queens
F – Ismael Noumansana, Lenoir-Rhyne
MF – Aksel Juul, Wingate
MF – Callum Ross, Wingate
MF – Henrique Rezek, Lincoln Memorial
MF – Thibault Mathorez, Carson-Newman
D – Alex Nelson, Wingate
D – Guillermo Lazcano, Tusculum
D – Damian Gaona, Wingate
D – Ryo Ogawa, Anderson
GK – Pablo Jara, Wingate
F – Bruno Andrade, Carson-Newman
F – Marius Staalby, Carson-Newman
F – Danilo da Silva, Lincoln Memorial
F – Ryan McPhillips, Brevard
MF – Marc-Kevin Schwenk, Queens
MF – Brad Du Plooy, Anderson
MF – Polymnios Avgousti, Carson-Newman
MF – Amine Merdjett, Mars Hill
D – Ryan Kawczynski, Queens
D – Ricardo Da Silva, Tusculum
D – Hisham Abedlaziz, Lincoln Memorial
D – Josh Calabria, Anderson
GK – Jorge Alvarez, Tusculum