Butler Tabbed Men's Soccer Preseason Favorite
INDIANAPOLIS -- For the second consecutive year, the Butler Bulldogs have been chosen the preseason favorite in the Horizon League, earning five first-place votes en route to the top spot in the men’s soccer preseason poll. Votes were taken of the League’s nine head coaches, who were not allowed to vote for their own team.
Butler went undefeated in League play in 2010, boasting a 7-0-1 mark in capturing the Horizon League regular season and tournament titles, entering the NCAA Tournament as the lone unbeaten team in the field. Earning the No. 13 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, the Bulldogs fell in the second round to Michigan State, 1-0.
The Bulldogs open 2011 ranked No. 21 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) preseason poll. New head coach Paul Snape takes the reigns of the program, which brings back two of its three top goal scorers in Ade Oluyedun and Austin Oldham.
Cleveland State, who knocked off No. 1 Akron in the 2010 regular season, collected three first-place votes to take second in the poll. The Vikings bring back the League’s Goalkeeper of the Year, Brad Stuver, who recorded a League-best 87 saves last season.
Milwaukee received the final first-place vote in the poll, finishing with 40 points. Four Panthers - Ryan Whitehead, Lucas Davey, James Ashcroft and Robbie Boyd - helped the Milwaukee Bavarians clinch their first National Premier Soccer League Midwest Division Championship over the summer.
The middle of the poll was tightly bunched, with Valparaiso, UIC and 2009 League champion Green Bay all receiving 33 points to tie for fourth. Loyola and Detroit each garnered 31 points, placing seventh.
Wright State rounded out the poll with 10 points.
The men’s soccer exhibition slate starts on Saturday, Aug. 13, with regular season action beginning on Friday, Aug. 26. The Horizon League Tournament will feature the top six teams in the League beginning on Tuesday, Nov. 8 at campus sites and continuing at the venue of the No. 1 seed Nov. 11-13.
