Seahawks voted to finish fifth
NEWPORT, R.I. - The Salve Regina University men's soccer team has been voted to finish fifth in the Commonwealth Coast Conference(CCC) in a preseason poll conducted by the coaches.
The Endicott men's soccer team will enter the 2018 season as the preseason favorite after claiming its first-ever CCC Men's Soccer Tournament Championship a year ago.
The Gulls earned 78 points and seven of a possible nine first place votes in this year's preseason coaches' poll, which was completed last week by the league's nine men's soccer head coaches.
Endicott put together a 6-1-2 CCC (13-5-3 overall) season last year and earned the top seed in the conference tournament for the third consecutive year. The Gulls made that final leap to the league title in 2017 with a 1-0 overtime victory over No. 2 seed Gordon in the championship match. The victory also earned Endicott its first trip the NCAA Tournament where it fell to Springfield 1-0 in the First Round.
The Fighting Scots were picked second in the year's poll after compiling a 6-2-1 CCC (13-6-1 overall) record and finishing as the CCC Tournament runner-up last season. They earned 72 points in the poll including a first place vote.
Last year's CCC Tournament Semifinalists, Wentworth (5-2-2 CCC, 10-8-2 overall) and Western New England (6-2-1 CCC, 12-7-1 overall), finished third and fourth in the poll, respectively. The Leopards earned 57 points, while the Golden Bears claimed 49. Salve Regina's (5-3-1 CCC, 11-5-3 overall) 42 points landed in the Seahawks in the fifth slot.
Roger Williams (41 points), Nichols (28), the University of New England (21), and Curry (17) closed out the poll in that order.
2018 CCC Men's Soccer Pre-season Coaches' Poll
- Endicott 78 (7)
- Gordon 72 (1)
- Wentworth 57
- Western New England 49
- Salve Regina 42
- Roger Williams 41
- Nichols 28
- U. of New England 21 (1)
- Curry 17
Head coach Craig O'Rourke II enters his 12th season at Salve Regina and is very much looking forward to the upcoming season following how close the top of the conference was last fall. "Only one result separated the top six teams in our conference and we were right in the middle of it. The Commonwealth Coast has grown in both popularity and stature and we are now regarded as one of the premier conferences in the sport of men's soccer nationally," said O'Rourke. This fall the Seahawks will once again look to the combined efforts of Matthew O'Donnell (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Donald Igo (Needham, Mass.), and Jordan Elster (Sutton, Mass.) to lead the squad. All three were All-Conference selections last year and Elster was both an All-Region and a Scholar All-American honoree. Each will be looking to build upon their past accomplishments and help push the program further and deeper into the postseason.
Read the full release from the Commonwealth Coast Conference at http://cccathletics.com/sports/msoc/2018-19/releases/2018msocPoll
Salve Regina University
Salve Regina athletics sponsors 20 NCAA Division III varsity sports for men and women. The Seahawks compete in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC - baseball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, field hockey, football, men's ice hockey, men's and women's lacrosse, men's and women's soccer, softball, men's and women's tennis, women's track and field, women's volleyball), New England Hockey Conference (NEHC - women's ice hockey), New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association (NEISA - sailing). Beginning in 2017-18, Salve Regina will also sponsor equestrian as a varsity sport, and adds junior varsity programs for baseball and men's lacrosse.