PROVIDENCE, R.I. – UConn has been selected as the preseason favorite to win the 2017 American Athletic Conference men’s soccer title in a vote of the league’s eight head coaches, the conference announced on Tuesday.
The Huskies, who are ranked No. 24 in the United Soccer Coaches (formerly the NSCAA) national preseason rankings, received four first-place votes and 45 total points to claim the top spot in the American preseason poll. Tulsa (one first-place vote, 43 points) was picked second and USF (two first-place votes, 34 points) came in at No. 3. The Hurricane completed a three-peat of the conference crown a year ago while the Bulls won the American regular season title last season.
UCF (29 points) was fourth in the American preseason rankings followed by SMU in fifth with 27 points, Temple in sixth with 20 points, Cincinnati (18 points) in seventh and Memphis (eight points) in eighth. The Mustangs, who return 2017 Preseason MAC Hermann Trophy Award candidate Mauro Cichero, also tallied one first-place vote.
UCF senior Matias Pyysalo was tabbed the American Preseason Offensive Player of the Year while Cincinnati sophomore Patrick Nielsen was named American Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. SMU redshirt senior Michael Nelson was the unanimous selection for Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year. Pyysalo, who claimed American Offensive Player of the Year honors a year ago, had a league leading 14 points in conference play last season while Nielsen received Second Team All-Conference and All-Rookie honors last year. Nelson has now been tabbed the Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year for three consecutive seasons. The Texas native ranked second in The American in save percentage (.826) and goals against average (0.63) in conference play in 2016.
SMU led the 2017 American Preseason All-Conference Team with four selections each among the 14 honorees. UConn had three student-athletes named to the team while Tulsa had a pair of players receive honors. Cincinnati, Memphis and Temple each had one player receive preseason accolades.
The 2017 men’s soccer season begins on Friday, August 25. Conference play starts Saturday, September 23.
2017 American Athletic Conference Men’s Soccer Preseason Honors
Preseason Coaches’ Poll
| Place |
School |
Points |
1st Place Votes |
| 1. |
UConn |
45 |
4 |
| 2. |
Tulsa |
43 |
1 |
| 3. |
USF |
34 |
2 |
| 4. |
UCF |
29 |
|
| 5. |
SMU |
27 |
1 |
| 6. |
Temple |
20 |
|
| 7. |
Cincinnati |
18 |
|
| 8. |
Memphis |
8 |
|
Preseason Offensive Player of the Year
Matias Pyysalo, UCF
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year
Patrick Nielsen, Cincinnati
Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year
Michael Nelson, SMU*
Preseason All-Conference Team
GK – Michael Nelson, SMU*
B – Patrick Nielsen, Cincinnati*
B – Jacob Hauser-Ramsey, UConn
B – Dylan Greenberg, UConn
B – Jordan Cano, SMU
B – Zack Stavrou, Tulsa
M – Matias Pyysalo, UCF
M – Jackson Morse, Memphis
M – Ricardo Gomez, USF
M – Mauro Cichero, SMU*
F – Abdou Mbacke Thiam, UConn*
F – Garrett McLaughlin, SMU
F – Joonas Jokinen, Temple
F – Juan Sanchez, Tulsa*
[*] Denotes unanimous selection
Ties are not broken