Men's Soccer Picked Sixth in NE-10 Preseason Poll

SOUTH EASTON, Mass. – The Southern New Hampshire University men’s soccer team was selected to finish sixth in the Northeast-10 Conference preseason coaches’ poll, released Tuesday afternoon.  Defending NE-10 and NCAA Division II national champion Franklin Pierce University was a near-unanimous selection to repeat, garnering 13 of the 14 first place votes to outdistance UMass Lowell, which received the other first place vote and was picked second overall.

SNHU returns 12 players from last season’s squad that reached the NE-10 Tournament for the eighth consecutive season.  Leading the way are graduate student Matt Delaney (Wallasey, England) and junior Richard Kentish (Kingston, Jamaica), who were both Northeast-10 All-Conference selections a season ago.  First-year head coach Marc Hubbard also welcomes 11 newcomers, including five from New Hampshire.

Southern New Hampshire opens the 2008 season on Thursday, August 28, when it entertains C.W. Post in a 7:00 match under the lights at Larkin Field.

Northeast-10 Conference
2008 Men’s Soccer Preseason Coaches’ Poll
School (First Place Votes) Points  Record (Overall, NE-10)
1. Franklin Pierce (13)  195   17-2-4, 11-0-2
2. UMass Lowell (1)   180   12-4-4, 10-2-1
3. Southern Connecticut  170   14-2-5, 9-1-3
4. Le Moyne    141   14-4-2, 9-2-2
5. Merrimack    139   13-6-3, 6-4-3
6. So. New Hampshire 131   5-8-5, 5-6-2
7. American International  101   6-9-3, 5-7-1
8. Saint Michael’s   86   10-5-4, 5-4-4
9. New Haven    85   6-10-1, 4-4-1 *
10. Assumption   68   6-9-3, 4-7-2
11. Saint Anselm   65   6-10-1, 4-9-0
12. Bentley    60   6-12-1, 3-10-0
13. Stonehill    27   5-12-2, 2-10-1
14. Saint Rose   22   1-15-1, 1-11-1

*-Member of East Coast Conference in 2007