Posted: Aug 22, 2022

CCC Pre-Season Poll: Seahawks picked fourth in men's soccer

Jordan Borges and the Seahawks are picked fourth in coaches' poll.

BIDDEFORD, Maine – Endicott will be the team to catch heading into the 2022 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Men's Soccer season as it was selected as the favorite in the 2022 CCC Preseason Coaches' Poll.

The Gulls earned 90 points in the voting that was conducted by the league's 10 head coaches last week. They also earned four of a possible 10 first place votes.

In 2021, Endicott earned a share of the CCC Regular-Season title by compiling a 7-1-1 CCC (8-7-2 overall) record. However, their quest for the CCC Tournament crown was stalled in the CCC Semifinals by North Shore rival Gordon, the eventual Tournament Champion.

As a result of their title run, the Fighting Scots find themselves in the No. 2 spot in this year's poll. Gordon earned 80 points and four first place votes of their own in the voting.

Gordon came into last year's CCC tournament as the No. 4 seed and were able to knock off Western New England, 3-2, in the CCC Quarterfinals before defeating the Gulls by the same score in the Semifinals. The Fighting Scots took Salve Regina into double-overtime in the CCC Championship match, netting the game-winner in the waning seconds of extra time. The CCC Tournament Champions then fell 1-0 in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament to Montclair State.

The Rhode Island duo of Roger Williams and Salve Regina placed third and fourth, respectively, in this year's voting and will look to challenge for the conference title. The Hawks earned 81 points, while the Seahawks followed close behind with 79. Both squads also picked up a first place vote apiece.

RWU earned a share of the CCC Regular-Season Championship last year, while Salve was the CCC Tournament runner-up. WNE rounded out the top-five of this year's poll with 47 points.

The bottom half of this year's preseason rankings were Suffolk (46 points), Wentworth (44), Curry (35), Nichols (29), and the University of New England (11) in that order.

Salve Regina men's soccer team will play 100 percent of its home games at Toppa Field where it hosted each of the last two Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Championship Games. The Seahawks are 28-7-6 since 2017 when playing on Aquidneck Island (Middletown or Newport).

Last season the Seahawks posted three shutouts on the Toppa turf including a 4-0 win against visiting Nichols College. Only two defeats against CCC members at home both came against Gordon, 3-0 in the regular season and 2-1 in double overtime three weeks later in the championship game.

Salve Regina outscored its opponents, 55-23, in 2021, and graduated its top two leading goal-scorers – Alessandro Oggiano (14g, 6a, 34p) and Jacob Guerra (8g, 3, 19p) – from last year's squad. Returning for his second full season after helping the Seahawks reach their second consecutive final is top-assist person, Jordan Borges (7g, 13a, 27p), who led all conference players in the helpers.

Nathan Reid tied for the league lead in saves (84) and had the second-best goals against average (1.03) and save percentage (.816) in his fourth season, now back for his fifth. He will miss the presence of two-time CCC Defensive Player of the Year, Casey Kelly, who also earned All-American honors in his final year as a Seahawk. James Davies and Nathan Costantino bring experience in leadership and skill to the back line.

Seahawks open 2022 with five non-league battles before their first CCC test comes against Wentworth Institute of Technology at home. The Leopards ended an eight-game unbeaten string for the Seahawks last year (7-0-1) with a 2-1 triumph in Boston on October 9.

Craig O'Rourke II enters his 16th season at the helm aiming for an unprecedented third-straight trip to the title game.

"For us, we just need to maintain our focus and concentrate on our training and not really pay too much attention to the polls or press," says O'Rourke. "In the past 10 or so years, I cannot recall the team being picked first in the pre-season poll in August being the one to earn the conference championship in November – certainly not in 2019. I think we were picked fourth or possibly fifth that year and we went on to sweep both CCC titles. As the saying goes in team sports … it's not about how you start, but rather how you finish that really matters."