IRVING, Texas – Defending American Athletic Conference men’s soccer regular-season and tournament champion Tulsa has been named the unanimous 2022 preseason favorite, as voted by the league’s head coaches.
The Golden Hurricane were named the favorites after receiving 81 points, including all nine first-place votes from the league’s other coaches. Last season’s runner-up UCF was second with 66 points, while Charlotte and FIU (one first-place vote) were tied for third with 60 points in their first year in the league. SMU rounded out the top half with 58 points, followed by South Florida (36), Memphis (31), Florida Atlantic (27), Temple (19) and UAB (14).
To go along with the unanimous selection in the preseason poll, Tulsa also swept the preseason superlatives. Alex Meinhard is the reigning two-time American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year and was named the league’s Preseason Offensive Player of the Year for a second consecutive season. Meinhard finished with 12 total goals and ranked first in the nation in penalty kicks (1.00) in 2021.
Mariano Fazio was tabbed the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. Fazio was named The American Defensive Player of the Year in 2021.
Alex Lopez is the defending American Athletic Conference Goalkeeper of the Year and has been named the conference’s Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year. Lopez finished the season withs six clean sheets a season ago and finished seventh in the nation in goals-against average (0.723).
Seven members of the 2021 All-American Athletic Conference First Team were named to the Preseason All-Conference Team. Tulsa led all programs with four selections on the preseason squad, while UCF and FIU both had three.
Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team in the preseason poll or their own student-athletes for the individual honors.
Preseason Coaches Poll
| 1. |
Tulsa (9) |
81 |
| 2. |
UCF |
66 |
| 3. |
Charlotte |
60 |
|
FIU (1) |
60 |
| 5. |
SMU |
58 |
| 6. |
South Florida |
36 |
| 7. |
Memphis |
31 |
| 8. |
Florida Atlantic |
27 |
| 9. |
Temple |
14 |
| 10. |
UAB |
14 |
Offensive Player of the Year
Alex Meinhard, Jr., F, Tulsa
Defensive Player of the Year
Mariano Fazio, Sr., D, Tulsa
Goalkeeper of the Year
Alex Lopez, So., Tulsa*
Preseason All-Conference Team
Lucca Dourado, Jr., F, UCF*
Anderson Rosa, Jr., D, UCF
Gino Vivi, Sr., F, UCF
Tom Abrahamsson, Sr., D, Florida Atlantic
Stephen Afrifa, Jr., F, FIU
Bernardo Dos Santos Monteiro, So., F, FIU
Matteo Gasperoni, Gr., M, FIU
Sal Mazzaferro, Jr., D, South Florida
Shion Soga, So., M, South Florida
Knut Ahlander, Gr., M, SMU
Mariano Fazio, Sr., D, Tulsa*
Alex Lopez, So., GK, Tulsa*
Alex Meinhard, Jr., F, Tulsa*
Henry Sach, Sr., M, Tulsa
* denotes unanimous selection