Men's Soccer: WVU Picked Third In BIG EAST
August 11, 2010 03:09 PM | General
August 11, 2010
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Connecticut and St. John’s are picked as favorites in the 2010 BIG EAST preseason men’s soccer poll. The Huskies received 12 first-place votes and are picked to win the league’s Blue Division, while the Red Storm had eight first-place votes and sit atop the Red Division in the poll. Both programs were selected to the NCAA Championship last season. The votes were cast by the league’s 16 head coaches, who were not permitted to vote for their own teams.
Connecticut totaled 115 points and won the regular-season crown last season with an 11-4-4 mark (8-2-1 BIG EAST). This year the Huskies will look to junior Preseason All-BIG EAST selection Tony Cascio to help them remain atop the league. He accumulated a team-leading 19 points in 2009, including seven goals. UConn also advanced to its 30th overall and 12th consecutive NCAA Championship.
Topping the Red Division is St. John’s who tallied 110 points. It is the second straight year the Red Storm have been picked to finish in first-place. Last year however, St. John’s completed the year in second at 9-3-9 (6-1-4 BIG EAST). The return of senior and All-BIG EAST Preseason Team selection Sverre Wegge Gundhus should help the Red Storm contend for their conference-record ninth BIG EAST Championship tournament crown in 2010. Red-shirt senior teammate and All-BIG EAST Preseason pick Tadeu Terra also should help anchor the offense.
Led by junior and BIG EAST Preseason Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Maund, Notre Dame is picked second in the Blue Division behind UConn with 109 points, including four first-place votes. Maund was an All-BIG EAST Third Team selection in 2009 and helped the Fighting Irish (11-8-4, 8-3-0 BIG EAST) win eight league games, tying for the most in school history. Notre Dame played for the BIG EAST Championship title for the second time in three years in 2009 and advanced to the NCAA Championship for the ninth straight season. Sophomore midfielder Dillon Powers also was named to the All-BIG EAST Preseason Team and is expected to steady the offense.
Louisville lands second in the Red Division behind St. John’s with 105 points, including five first-places votes. The Cardinals will be led by BIG EAST Preseason Offensive Player of the Year Colin Rolfe. The junior was a unanimous selection to the All-BIG EAST First Team in 2009 as well as a NSCAA First Team All-America selection. Rolfe finished second in the conference both in goals with ten and points with 22. He scored half his goals in league games, while also adding in two assists, placing him fourth in points in BIG EAST contests with 12. Rolfe also earns unanimous Preseason All-BIG EAST honors. The Cardinals are led by 2009 BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year under the direction of head coach Ken Lolla.
USF is picked third in the Red Division totaling 102 points, including three first-place votes. Steadied in net by BIG EAST Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year Jeff Attinella, the Bulls (14-4-3, 6-3-2 BIG EAST) have one of the top players in the country. Named to the NSCAA First Team in 2009, Attinella led the league with 101 saves in 21 games last season. He also posted an 0.83 goals-against average, along with seven shutouts. In addition, the Bulls were selected for the NCAA Championship for the fourth time in the last five years. Attinella also was tabbed to the All-BIG EAST Preseason Team, along with red-shirt junior Bernardo Anor and senior Javed Mohammed. With three players on the All-BIG EAST Preseason Team, the Bulls have the most of any squad in the league.
West Virginia is third in the Blue Division with 88 points after finishing the 2009 campaign in third place. The Mountaineers (7-5-6, 6-3-2 BIG EAST) have All-BIG EAST Preseason Team selection Raymon Gaddis returning as one of eight starters. In the past two seasons, the team has ranked in the top 15 nationally in goals-against average (12th with a 0.64 GAA in 2008 and eighth with a 0.61 mark in 2009).
Also named to the All-BIG EAST Preseason Team is Seton Hall senior Brayan Martinez.
While the season kicks off Sept. 1, BIG EAST play begins on Sept. 25. The BIG EAST is the nation’s largest Division I men's soccer conference.
The 2010 BIG EAST Men's Soccer Championship is a 12-team single-elimination tournament. The top six teams in each division, seeded by Conference point total, qualify for the conference championship. First-round games will be held on Nov. 3, with the quarterfinals following on Nov. 6.
For the first time, Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J. will serve as host for the semifinals (Nov. 12) and championship (Nov. 14). Tickets will be available to Red Bull season ticket holders with a pre-sale opportunity on Aug. 17. General ticket sales begin on Aug. 20. Visit www.redbullarena.us or call 877.RB.SOCCER to place your order.
The semifinals will start at 5 p.m. ET and approximately 7:30 p.m. ET, while the title game is slated for noon, ET. The final three matches of the championship will be televised live on the CBS College Sports Network (CBS C). The semifinals also will be carried exclusively on CBS C, while the title game will be shown on numerous regional sports networks, including SportsNet NY (SNY). The title game also will be broadcast live nationally on CBS C beginning at noon, ET. The tournament champion receives the league’s automatic berth into the 48-team NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Championship.
