CCC Pre-season Coaches' Poll: Men's Soccer No. 8
NEWPORT, R.I. - Salve Regina University men's soccer returned to campus yesterday for its fall pre-season; today the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) released the results of the its coaches pre-season poll for the sport.
Endicott College enters the 2017 campaign as the favorite after finishing the 2016 CCC season with an 8-1 (12-5-3 overall) record. The Gulls earned 96 points and six of a possible 10 first place votes in this year's preseason coaches' poll, which was completed last week by the league's 10 men's soccer head coaches.
The defending CCC regular-season champion will look to bounce back after being knocked out in the CCC semifinals by eventual CCC tournament champion Western New England via a penalty shootout a year ago.
2017 CCC Men's Soccer Pre-season Coaches' Poll
- Endicott College 96 (6)
- Wentworth Institute of Technology 90 (3)
- Gordon College 77
- Western New England University 70 (1)
- Roger Williams University 60
- Nichols College 50
- Curry College 32
- Salve Regina University 30
- University of New England 26
- Eastern Nazarene College 19
Craig O'Rourke II enters his 11th season as head coach with a good core of talent to returning to the squad that has had a very positive off-season and shown a high degree of commitment. Captains armbands will be on the jerseys of three players from New Jersey – Richie Finizio (Fort Lee, N.J.), Richie Leister (Navesink, N.J.), and Michael Payan (Fort Lee, N.J.).
O'Rourke expects a few freshmen to immediately come into the program and make a difference. The Seahawks could formulate a cohesive starting eleven from just the returning players, but O'Rourke is hopeful that Jacob Guerra (Colchester, Conn.), Tyler Landry (Schenectady, N.Y.), Nolan Marino (Killingworth, Conn.), and Sam Wilkinson (Windsor, Maine) can push returnees for starting positions and also "increase the overall level of the soccer that we are able to produce on the field."
Follow more from the Commonwealth Coast Conference at http://cccathletics.com/sports/msoc/2017-18/releases/2017MSOCPoll
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.