2010 ACC Men’s Soccer Preseason Poll

Aug. 24, 2010

GREENSBORO, NC ­- The North Carolina men’s soccer program is the 2010 Atlantic Coast Conference preseason favorite, as determined by a vote of the league’s nine head coaches, announced Wednesday by Commissioner John Swofford.

North Carolina, which lost only four seniors off a squad that held a share of the ACC regular season championship last season, beat Maryland as the preseason pick for the upcoming season. The Tar Heels shared the regular season crown for the first time since 2000 and advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA College Cup after going to the championship match the previous year.

UNC, which was 16-2-4 in 2009 and finished with a 5-2-1 ACC ledger, has now received back-to-back preseason No. 1 selections. Maryland, which was ranked third by College Soccer News and sixth by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) in its respective national preseason polls, earned a second-place nod in the preseason poll. The Terrapins return nine starters from a 2009 team that advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight before falling to eventual national champion Virginia. Maryland also wrapped up 2009 ranking second in total attendance in the country.

Virginia opens the 2010 season unbeaten in its last 16 games (13-0-3), dating back to a 1-0 double-overtime loss at North Carolina on Oct. 2, 2009. The Cavaliers, which were picked No. 3 in the league’s preseason poll, are also riding a 10-game unbeaten streak in Klöckner Stadium. The squad, which returns 13 letterwinners and seven starters from a team that won the 2009 NCAA Championship, ranks No. 2 in the preseason rankings released by the NSCAA.

Wake Forest wraps up the top four ACC predictions as the Demon Deacons return six starters and 14 letterwinners from the 2009 team that finished the year with a 17-4-3 record and advanced to the College Cup for the fourth-straight season. Completing the preseason poll in order of projected finish are Duke, Boston College, NC State, Clemson and Virginia Tech, respectively.

The 2010 season gets underway on Wednesday, September 1. ACC competition opens on Friday, September 10 when six of the league’s nine programs square off, including Maryland at Boston College, Clemson at Wake Forest, and North Carolina at crosstown rival NC State.

Clemson will open the 2010 season on September 3, at South Carolina in Columbia.

2010 Preseason ACC Men’s Soccer Poll