WAUKESHA, Wis. -- Dominican was unanimous favorite in the Northern Athletics Conference preseason men's soccer poll, the conference announced Friday. The poll was voted on by the 12 head men's soccer coaches in the conference.
The Stars will be going for their fifth-straight NAC regular season and tournament titles this year, where they have a combined record of 47-0-2 the past four seasons. Dominican is coming off its most productive season in history as the team finished with a 19-2-3 overall record (11-0 NAC). Dominican made it all the way to the NCAA III championship tournament semifinals, losing to Calvin 1-0, and just missing out on the national championship game.
Concordia Wisconsin (12-4-5, 7-1-3 NAC) was second in the poll, followed by Edgewood (12-5-3, 8-2-1), Aurora (12-6-1, 7-4) and MSOE (13-6-2, 9-1-1).
Marian (5-11-2, 2-7-2) rounded out the top half and claimed the sixth spot. Lakeland (8-10-1, 6-5) was seventh, Benedictine (7-10-1, 3-7-1) eighth, Wisconsin Lutheran (4-11-3, 2-7-2) ninth and Concordia Chicago (4-14-1, 3-8) tenth.
Maranatha (5-11-1, 2-9) and Rockford (1-14, 1-10) completed the poll with the final two spots.
Teams open up the season with nonconference play next week, and the conference season begins on Saturday, Sept. 11.
The 2010 NAC Tournament begins Saturday, Oct. 31, with the two opening rounds games, followed by the semifinals on Tuesday, Nov. 2, and the final on Saturday, Nov. 6. Each tournament game is hosted by the higher seed of the two teams. The NAC tournament champion receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA III Championship, which beings the following week.
2010 NAC Preseason Poll
1. Dominican (12), 144
2. Concordia Wisconsin, 120
3. Edgewood, 112
4. Aurora, 111
5. MSOE, 100
6. Marian, 73
7. Lakeland, 60
8. Benedictine, 59
9. Wisconsin Lutheran, 57
10. Concordia Chicago, 49
11. Maranatha, 32
12. Rockford, 19
First place votes in parentheses.
Northern Athletics Conference, Sports Information Department, August 27, 2010