Aug. 14, 2007
NORFOLK, VA--The Old Dominion University men's soccer team areranked 21st in the pre-season NSCAA/adidas coaches poll which was released today. The CAA coaches picked ODU to win the league crown.
TheMonarchs, who reached the round of 16 in last year's NCAA College Cup returnseven starters from last year's squad and will play four of the nation's pre-season top 25teams.
Leading the Monarchs this season will be 6-4 senior defender and captain,David Horst, the 2006 CAA Defender of the Year. Horst is one of 29 candidatesnamed by the nation's coaches to the Hermann Award watch list which is college soccer's Player of the Year award. Horst was also selected to the second team pre-seasonAll-American squad by COLLEGE SOCCER NEWS, which ranked ODU 27th in theirPre-season poll.
ODU opens the regular season on Aug. 31 against #3 Wake Forest in North Carolina's Tournament, then #16 UNC on Sept. 2. The Monarchs will also play at#9 Maryland on Sept. 19 and at #20 and CAA rival Towson on Oct. 21.
The Monarchs knocked off North Carolina in the NCAA second round last year. The CAA had four teams in last year's tournament with both ODU and Towson reaching the "Sweet 16." The Monarchs lost to eventual national champion UC Santa Barbara, 2-1.
ODU has advanced to five straight NCAA Tournaments.
NSCAA/ADIDAS Coaches Pre-season Top 251.UC Santa Barbara2.UCLA3.Wake Forest4.Duke5.Virginia6.Santa Clara7.Indiana8.SMU9.Maryland10.Notre Dame11.California12.Clemson13.West Virginia14.Northwestern15.New Mexico16.North Carolina17.St. John's18.Washington19.Lehigh20.Towson21.Old Dominion22.St. Louis23.UNC Greensboro24.Harvard25.UCONN
2007 CAA Pre-Season Coaches Poll1. ODU2. Hofstra3. George Mason4. Towson5. VCU6. JMU UNC Wilmington8. William & Mary9. Northeastern10. Delaware11. Drexel12. Georgia State