UW-Milwaukee 28th in <i>College Soccer News</i> men's soccer preseason poll

July 25, 2006

Milwaukee, Wis. - The first of the preseason soccer rankings came out Monday and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's soccer team is on the list. College Soccer News ranked the Panthers No. 28 in its preseason Top 30 poll.

UWM is coming off a 14-4-5 season in 2005 that ended with a loss to national runner-up New Mexico in the second round of the NCAA Tournament and a No. 24 ranking in the NSCAA / adidas poll. The last time the Panthers were ranked in the preseason was in 2003 when the NSCAA placed them at No. 18.

"It's always good to see UWM in the polls," head coach Jon Coleman said. "It was good to see the ranking after only losing two seniors and with such a strong squad coming back. We have a solid core of returners and a schedule that is better than it has been in a while."

Defending champion Maryland earned the number one spot, with Southern Methodist, North Carolina, Connecticut and Penn State rounding out the top five.

UWM will take on that SMU squad in the second game of the regular season (August 27) as well as taking on 10th-ranked Creighton (September 8).In-state opponent Wisconsin (Sept. 20) is also receiving votes in the poll.

Coleman and the Panthers open the regular season August 25th against Tulsa in Oklahoma.

2006 College Soccer News Preseason Top-30 National Poll
1. Maryland
2. Southern Methodist
3. North Carolina
4. Connecticut
5. Penn State
6. Virginia
7. Akron
8. UCLA
9. New Mexico
10. Creighton
11. South Florida
12. Duke
13. Indiana
14. California
15. Clemson
16. Notre Dame
17. St. John's
18.UNC-Greensboro
19. Wake Forest
20. Old Dominion
21. UC Santa Barbara
22. San Francisco
23. Cal State Northridge
24. San Diego State
25. Virginia Tech
26. Santa Clara
27. Saint Louis
28. Wisconsin-Milwaukee
29. South Carolina
30. Ohio State
Others Receiving Votes: Oregon State, Seton Hall, Hartwick, Loyola Marymount, N.C. State, Brown, Hofstra, Dartmouth, Washington, Vermont, Duquesne, Wisconsin, UC Irvine, James Madison, Rutgers.

Story provided by UW-Milwaukee Office of Sports Information