GREENWOOD, Ind. – In pursuit of its fourth straight league title, Cedarville opens up the fall as the leader atop the 2016 Great Midwest Athletic Conference Men’s Soccer Preseason Coaches Poll presented by Under Armour on Friday.
The Yellow Jackets have won the last three G-MAC Championship trophies, including two via shootouts, but broke through on a larger scale with an opening-round win at the NCAA Championship Midwest Regional in 2015.
Cedarville was 15-4-2 last year while drawing a respectable No. 4 seed in the regional. The Yellow Jackets eliminated Quincy before running into a tough Rockhurst squad that advanced to the NCAA semifinals.
Cedarville’s push for four straight hinges on a stalwart defensive grouping and the dominant skillset of NCAA Division II All-American forward Connor Gilmour in his final year of eligibility. He also voted as the G-MAC Male Athlete of the Year by administrators around the league.
The Yellow Jackets received five first-place votes and 35 points following the coaches voting.
The preseason runner-up was Alderson Broaddus after the Battlers finished with 30 points. Tying for third in the preseason standings was Davis & Elkins and Ohio Valley with 23 points apiece.
The Fighting Scots of OVU reversed their fortunes from a year ago and received a pair of first-place votes.
D&E was narrowly ousted in the semifinals of the conference tournament on penalty kicks.
Trevecca Nazarene was fifth in the poll with 19 points and G-MAC first-year institution Malone was tabbed at sixth with nine points.
Kentucky Wesleyan will be aiming to return to the postseason in the six-team tournament field after being selected seventh to begin the fall.
The conference will be publishing comprehensive season previews for each institution leading up to the start of the new year. The season previews will include interviews with coaches/student-athletes.
The schedule for releasing G-MAC men’s soccer season previews is as follows:
Kentucky Wesleyan – Monday, Aug. 15
Davis & Elkins – Tuesday, Aug. 16
Trevecca Nazarene – Wednesday, Aug. 17
Ohio Valley – Thursday, Aug. 18
Malone – Thursday, Aug. 18
Alderson Broaddus – Friday, Aug. 19
Cedarville – Friday, Aug. 19
2016 G-MAC Men's Soccer Preseason Coaches Poll presented by Under Armour
| School |
Points |
| 1. Cedarville (5 first-place votes) |
35 |
| 2. Alderson Broaddus |
30 |
| t3. Ohio Valley (2 first-place votes) |
23 |
| t3. Davis & Elkins |
23 |
| 5. Trevecca Nazarene |
19 |
| 6. Malone |
9 |
| 7. Kentucky Wesleyan |
8 |