Husson and SUNY Poly top NAC men's soccer preseason polls
WATERVILLE, Maine – Defending North Atlantic Conference champion Husson University was chosen to carry the East Division with SUNY Poly tabbed to set the pace for the West Division in preseason voting among the conference’s men’s soccer coaches.
In the East Division, the Eagles came away with six first-place votes and 48 points as they enter the 2023 season. After winning the North Atlantic Conference title in 2022, Husson returns eight of their starting players including 2022 Tournament MVP Mario Alvarez.
Coming in second in the poll was UMaine-Farmington with 38 points, followed by Thomas College sliding into third place with 36 points and one-first place vote. Maine Maritime captured fourth place with 31 points and will have 2022 Rookie of the Year John-John Dickenson returning to the field this season. Closing out the poll is UMaine-Presque with 18 points, Lesley University with 15 points, and VTSU Lyndon with 10 points.
SUNY Poly enters the 2023 season as the top pick in the West preseason poll rankings with 41 points and five-first place votes. The Wildcats return most of their starting players including 2022 NAC Player of the Year Abus Mohamed-Ali. SUNY Poly will be fighting for a chance to return to the conference championship game after falling to SUNY Delhi in the West Division Championship.
2022 NAC runner-up SUNY Delhi was not far behind in the poll finishing second with 41 points and two-first place votes. SUNY Canton captured 34 points in the voting, while newcomers Eastern Nazarene and SUNY Morrisville tied for fourth with 27 points. SUNY Cobleskill (13 points) and VTSU Johnson (11 points) round out the poll respectively.
The 2023 season opens on Friday, Sept. 1, with ten of the NAC’s 14 men’s soccer programs competing. UMaine-Presque Isle and UMaine-Farmington will begin NAC league play in the East on Wednesday, Sept. 6, with West Division conference games beginning over the weekend of September 9.
The 2023 regular season concludes on Sunday, Oct. 22, with the 2023 NAC Men’s Soccer Tournament beginning play on Saturday, Oct. 28, with quarterfinal matches at the site of the top seed in each division. The NAC Tournament championship match will be played on Saturday, Nov. 4, at the site of the East Division semifinal winner.
Complete 2023 NAC Men's Soccer Preseason Poll results are below:
| 2023 NAC EAST MEN'S SOCCER PRESEASON POLL |
POLL
RANK |
TEAM |
POINTS
(FIRST PLACE VOTES) |
2022 OVERALL/CONF. RECORD |
| 1. |
Husson |
48 pts. (6) |
15-4-2 / 8-0-1 NAC EAST |
| 2. |
UMaine-Farmington |
38 pts. |
8-6-3 / 6-2-1 NAC EAST |
| 3. |
Thomas |
36 pts. (1) |
6-7-5 / 4-2-3 NAC EAST |
| 4. |
Maine Maritime |
31 pts. |
5-10-1 / 4-4-1 NAC EAST |
| 5. |
UMaine-Presque Isle |
18 pts. |
3-10-2 / 3-6-0 NAC EAST |
| 6. |
Lesley |
15 pts. |
0-14-0 / 0-6-0 NECC |
| 7. |
VTSU Lyndon |
10 pts. |
2-12-1 / 1-8-0 NAC EAST |
| 2023 NAC WEST MEN'S SOCCER PRESEASON POLL |
POLL
RANK |
TEAM |
POINTS
(FIRST PLACE VOTES) |
2022 OVERALL/CONF. RECORD |
| 1. |
SUNY Poly |
42 pts. (5) |
11-5-3 / 7-0-2 NAC WEST |
| 2. |
SUNY Delhi |
41 pts. (2) |
10-7-2 / 4-3-2 NAC WEST |
| 3. |
SUNY Canton |
34 pts. |
6-11-1 / 5-3-1 NAC WEST |
| T-4. |
Eastern Nazarene |
27 pts. |
7-7-5 / 5-0-1 NECC |
| T-4. |
SUNY Morrisville |
27 pts. |
7-9-0 / 3-5-0 United East |
| 6. |
SUNY Cobleskill |
13 pts. |
2-15-2 / 2-7-0 NAC WEST |
| 7. |
VTSU Johnson |
11 pts. |
4-10-2 / 2-7-1 NAC WEST |