IRVING, Texas – Defending men’s soccer regular-season and tournament champion UCF was selected as the league favorite in the 2021 American Athletic Conference Men’s Soccer Preseason Coaches’ Poll that was released on Thursday. The preseason rankings were voted on by the conference’s six head coaches.
 
The Knights earned three of the five possible votes as the conference favorite to win the 2021 American Men’s Soccer Championship, notching 22 of 25 possible points. UCF senior defender Yanis Leerman was the leading vote getter in the running for preseason American Defensive Player of the Year honors.
 
SMU, the three-time American tournament champion, received two first-place votes and accumulated 21 points to place second in the preseason poll. Tulsa was slotted third with the final first-place vote and 19 points, and last season’s American Offensive Player of the Year/American Rookie of the Year, sophomore forward Alex Meinhard, was tabbed as the preseason’s top offensive player. South Florida (12 points), Temple (11 points) and Memphis (5 points) rounded out the predicted order of finish. Temple redshirt freshman goalkeeper Eoin Gawronski was the unanimous choice for preseason American Goalkeeper of the Year.
 
The 2021 American Athletic Conference Men’s Soccer Championship will be held on Nov. 10 and 13 on-campus at the tournament’s top-seeded team. The top-four finishers in the conference’s regular-season standings qualify for the American tournament.
 
Top-seeded UCF won its first American Men’s Soccer Championship tournament last season by way of a 1-0 decision in the final against No. 2 seed Tulsa. The Knights had previously earned at least a share of the regular-season conference title on three occasions and had been tournament runner-up three times. UCF went 1-1 in the 2020 NCAA Championship to reach the third round of the tournament for the first time in program history.
 
SMU led all American teams with four selections on the preseason all-conference squad; midfielders Knut Ahlander, Gabriel Costa and Skage Simonsen, and forward Papa Ndoye, were chosen from the Mustangs. UCF, Temple and Tulsa each added three players on the preseason all-conference team. Leerman, defender Anderson Rosa and forward Gino Vivi represented the Knights, midfielder Jalen Campbell, Gawronski and forward Sean Karani were Owl selections to the team, and midfielder Chase Bromstedt, defender Mariano Fazio and Meinhard were the representatives from the Golden Hurricane. South Florida defender Sal Mazzaferro rounded out the preseason all-conference honorees, of which 11 of the 14 players were unanimous choices.
 
2021 American Athletic Conference
Men’s Soccer Preseason Coaches’ Poll
 

Team (1st Place Votes)	Points
UCF (3)	22
SMU (2)	21
Tulsa (1)	19
South Florida	12
Temple	11
Memphis	5

 
Preseason Offensive Player of the Year
Alex Meinhard, So., F, Tulsa
 
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year
Yanis Leerman, Sr., D, UCF
 
Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year
Eoin Gawronski, R-Fr., Temple*
 
Preseason All-Conference Team
Yanis Leerman, Sr., D, UCF*
Anderson Rosa, So., D, UCF*
Gino Vivi, Jr., F, UCF
Sal Mazzaferro, So., D, South Florida*
Knut Ahlander, Sr., M, SMU*
Gabriel Costa, Sr., M, SMU
Papa Ndoye, Jr., F, SMU
Skage Simonsen, Sr., M, SMU*
Jalen Campbell, Jr., M, Temple*
Eoin Gawronski, R-Fr., GK, Temple*
Sean Karani, So., F, Temple*
Chase Bromstedt, R-Sr., M, Tulsa*
Mariano Fazio, Sr., D, Tulsa*
Alex Meinhard, So., F, Tulsa*

 *denotes unanimous selection