St. Scholastica is easy favorite in UMAC Men's Soccer Preseason Poll
2010 UMAC Men’s Soccer Preseason Coaches’ Poll
1. 48 Points - College of St. Scholastica (6 First Place Votes)
2. 39 Points - University of Minnesota, Morris (1)
3. 38 Points - Northwestern College (1)
4. 26 Points - Bethany Lutheran College
5. 25 Points - Presentation College
6. 24 Points - Crown College
7. 14 Points - Martin Luther College
8. 10 Points - Northland College
ST. PAUL -- Winners of four of the last six Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) championships, the College of St. Scholastica was the overwhelming favorite to win the conference title again in 2010, according to a preseason poll of the league’s coaches. The Saints, who won the UMAC regular season in 2007 and 2008, fell one game shy of the conference crown last season as a tie separated St. Scholastica and the University of Minnesota, Morris in the final league standings.
With the UMAC’s first-ever automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament on the line in 2010, St. Scholastica couldn’t have picked a better time to bring back its most experienced squad. 11 seniors fill the Saints’ roster, led by two-time UMAC Player of the Year Toby Peter. Peter started all of St. Scholastica’s 22 games last year and broke a program record with 16 assists while also leading the team with 28 points. Peter will be joined once again by first team All-UMAC choices Greg Doornink and Brandon Stemwedel, along with honorable mention selections Jermaine Dacres and Dustin James. Defensively, first team selection Ian Linder will be back to protect another first team selection, goalkeeper Sam Reed. Like Peter, Reed also started all 22 games in 2009, setting a program record with a 0.65 goals-against average (GAA). 10 of Reed’s 16 victories on the season were shutouts.
Following St. Scholastica in the poll was Minnesota, Morris with 39 points. Last year’s conference champion lost a lot of its offensive firepower in its top four scorers and will return just four starters from a year ago. Toby Glaser will lead the Cougars offense after notching seven points on two goals and three assists last season. Midfielder Matt Johnson will also be looked upon for leadership, having started 20 games and tallying five points in 2009. Tyler Weber and Tyler Simpson each return in net in 2010 after combining for all of the team’s 16 wins and 12 shutouts a year ago. Weber allowed just four goals and had a GAA of 0.36 while Simpson allowed just five and finished with a GAA of 0.51. Scott Turnbull takes over the interim head coaching duties this year after the departure of Christian DeVries. Turnbull served as an assistant coach with both the Minnesota-Morris men’s and women’s teams for the last several seasons.
Northwestern College fell one point short of tying for second with Minnesota, Morris, settling for 38 points and third place in the poll. Despite posting a winning UMAC record in 2009, Northwestern is not satisfied with its 7-6-1 mark and will look to improve upon it in 2010. The Eagles lost nearly half of last year’s starters to graduation, so the team’s starting 11 will have somewhat of a different look to it. On offense, Northwestern returns last season’s leading scorer in Sam Mann. As a freshman, Mann accounted for 10 of the team’s 29 goals in 2009, adding 21 points. Jeremy Stiner is Northwestern’s next-highest returning goal scorer, having started 13 games last year while scoring four goals to go with two assists. Although he didn’t score any goals in 2009, junior Joel Ottley brings speed and agility to the pitch, having started 17 games a year ago. Junior Josh Niedermayer, who minded the net for 400 minutes last season, is the likely fill-in in the starting goalkeeper spot, taking over for the departed Danny King.
Receiving 26 points in the poll was Bethany Lutheran College, who finished the 2009 campaign with a 5-9 UMAC record. This year’s Viking squad returns every player who scored last season including first team all-conference midfielders Felipe Ortega and Evans Tackie-Yarboi. Tackie-Yarboi scored six goals a year ago while Ortega finished with one goal. All-conference honorable mention Joe Nuah also returns. Nuah was the team’s leading scorer last year with eight goals. In addition to its core group of returning players, Bethany Lutheran welcomed 11 promising newcomers to camp a week ago. Freshman Johnny Luna, who was a part of the state championship team in Nevada last year, and all-conference player Chase Kappel are expected to make an immediate impact in 2010. In between the pipes, senior Cameron Koopman will be vying for the starting spot after the departure of Will Tatge.
Presentation College and Crown College finished one and two points, respectively, behind Bethany Lutheran in the poll for fifth and sixth place. Both teams will welcome new head coaches in 2010 - Evan Ormand at Presentation and Art Busha at Crown. Ormand was previously an assistant in the Saints soccer programs, while Busha comes from directing a club team in Arizona after coaching collegiately at Concordia University (Neb.) and LeTourneau University (Texas).
Presentation returns nine starters from a year ago when the Saints went 3-7-3 in conference play. Key returners to Presentation’s roster include seniors Andre Peterson, Anthony Hruby, Joe Romero and Kris Harry. Striker Brandon Spanier scored 11 goals in 2009 and is a two-time all-conference honorable mention award winner. Newcomer Cameron Hammrich will be looking for playing time as a freshman.
After posting the program’s first winning UMAC record, Crown returns six of seven goal-scorers from last season including forwards Mark Matson and Jon Schultz. The duo accounted for 23 goals, four of which were game-winners, in 2009 and will look to provide the Storm’s scoring punch again this year. Overall, Crown returns an experienced squad that features eight returners who have started at least 14 games. Busha will lean on that experience as he welcomes in eight new members to the roster.
Martin Luther College, who received 14 points in the poll, struggled at 2-10-2 in conference play last year. Head Coach Paul Koelpin returns a number of young players that showed progress as the 2009 season progressed with the hopes of a rebound campaign in 2010. Leading the group of returning players on offense are Nathan Gurgel and Joey Molyneaux, who each finished with three goals last year. Levi Dunsmoor and John Paustian also return, giving the Knights some experience up front. Dunsmoor accounted for two of the team’s assists in 2009. On defense, Martin Luther brings back three key players in Steve White, Julius Buelow and Ben Schone. The Knights are also looking forward to the return of Andrew Danner after and is also looking to get Andrew Danner back after the defenseman missed last year’s season with an injury.
Northland College will continue to use youth to build its program after finishing 2-11 in the UMAC standings last season. Head Coach Scott Mayforth, who enters his 21st season at the team’s helm in 2010, hopes to bounce back after the LumberJacks lost five conference games by one goal a year ago. Ben Hughey will once again anchor the LumberJacks defense, offering leadership and the ability to clog opposing offenses. The junior sweeper added two goals last year. Matt Lamb joins Hughey as key returner after scoring three goals in 2009. Juniors Matt Larson and Hunter Shira will battle for the starting goalkeeper position after first team all-conference performer Matt Fryer graduated. Freshmen Nick Peterson, Travis Patterson and Callien Godshlak headline a talented group of newcomers for Northland.
All eight UMAC teams will be in action beginning on Sept. 1, with the conference schedule kicking off on Sept. 14. Following the 2010 regular season, the league’s top four schools will compete in the now-very important UMAC Conference Tournament on Nov. 2 and 6 as the tournament champion will receive the automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.