St. John's University Athletics
St. John's Ranked No. 5 In NSCAA Preseason Poll
8/11/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Aug. 11, 2009
QUEENS, N.Y. - Already ranked No. 1 in the College Soccer News preseason poll, the St. John's men's soccer has earned a No. 5 preseason ranking according to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). The defending National Champion Maryland Terrapins come in at No. 1 in the rankings.
The BIG EAST is well-represented in the poll as USF (No. 11), Connecticut (No. 12), Notre Dame (No. 12) and Louisville (No. 25) all join St. John's in the rankings.
The Red Storm finished 19-3-3 a year ago, including an 8-1-2 mark in conference play that gave the squad a BIG EAST Regular Season Championship. St. John's led the nation in 2008 with a school-record 16 shutouts. A stingy defense and a well-balanced offensive unit helped the team outscore the opposition 39-13 on the year.
Among the returners for St. John's are Joel Gustafsson (3g, 1a), a second team NSCAA All-American and the reigning BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year, and Nelson Becerra (8g, 7a), the reigning BIG EAST Midfielder of the Year. Tadeu Terra (3g, 3a) and Becerra each earned NSCAA All-Northeast Region honors.
NSCAA Preseason Poll1. Maryland2. North Carolina3. Wake Forest3. Akron5. St. John's6. Creighton7. Indiana8. California9. Northwestern10. Illinois-Chicago11. USF12. Connecticut12. Notre Dame14. Tulsa15. UC Irvine16. UC Santa Barbara17. Dartmouth18. Loyola (Md.)19. UCLA20. Michigan State21. Saint Louis22. Michigan23. Cal Poly24. Boston University25. Louisville
