TicketsMen?s Soccer Chosen to Finish Seventh in Conference USA
Contact: Shawn Sell
8/14/2001
CHICAGO - The University of Cincinnati men?s soccer team has been chosen to finish seventh in Conference USA according to a poll by league coaches. Defending champion Saint Louis was once again tabbed to claim the top spot after capturing the regular season and conference titles in 2000.
The Bearcats will begin a new era in men?s soccer at UC in 2001 as Hylton Dayes takes over as head coach.
The Bearcats hope to improve on the preseason ranking by season?s end. ?Preseason polls are just that. Preseason,? Dayes said. ?I think that our ranking is a result of the fact that we lost eight seniors last year and we will have a young team.?
Cincinnati returns five starters from last season?s 7-9-3 team that finished fifth in Conference USA. It will also look to improve upon their 3-2-3 mark in the always competitive C-USA. ?Conference USA is a difficult league,? Dayes said. ?There are a number of quality teams that we will have to compete with.?
The Bearcat squad, which reports for pre-season condititioning on Tuesday, will feel the effects of eight graduating seniors, however Dayes likes the looks of his 2001 team. ?We will be a younger team than in the past,? he said. ?We have several positions to replace. The potential is there for a good year because the recruiting class is a good one and we have some very talented individuals returning.?
Among the returnees is junior Scott Lyons, who is a two-year starter and the top returning scorer on the team and sophomore goalkeeper Sacha Nathu, who started every contest a season ago. The top returning defender is junior Anders Cedergren, who started all 19 matches in 2000.
Entering his first season at the helm, Dayes is more concerned with the team's final ranking than it?s preseason. ?The only ranking that really matters is the one at the end of the year,? he said. ?We want to play well enough to qualify for the conference tournament and have a chance to earn an NCAA bid.?
In the remainder of the conference poll, UAB, after taking runner-up honors to Saint Louis last season, was once again chosen as the Billikens biggest challenge to a second straight league crown. South Florida, Charlotte and Louisville are next, ahead of the Bearcats, who are tied for seventh in the preseason ranks with Marquette.
The Bearcats kick off the non-conference portion of the schedule with a home contest against Western Illinois on Friday, August 31. Dayes views the non-league slate as a good tune-up for league play. ?We have a tough pre-conference schedule and we will need to use those matches to prepare for playing in Conference USA,? he said.
The top eight finishers in the league will advance to play in the post-season tournament held November 15-17 in Tampa, Fla.
2001 C-USA PRESEASON POLL(as selected by C-USA coaches) 1. Saint Louis 2. UAB 3. Memphis 4. South Florida 5. Charlotte 6. Louisville 7. Cincinnati Marquette 9. TCU 10. DePaul 11. East Carolina