Aug. 14, 2008
SAN BRUNO, Calif. - Gonzaga University men's soccer, which lost 10 seniors off last season's team, has been picked to finish sixth in a pre-season poll of West Coast Conference coaches.
Coming off of an undefeated season in conference play and a trip to the third round of last year's NCAA Championships, Santa Clara University has been selected the favorite to take home the regular- season title.
The Bulldogs, who earned a NCAA Tournament at-large bid a year ago, received 12 votes. Gonzaga lost seven starters off a team that went 9-7-4 overall, 4-4-4 in the WCC for fourth place. Head coach Einar Thorarinsson, entering his 14th season at the helm, has four returning starters among his 10 returning lettermen - defenders Tim Muravez and Nick Barclay, and midfielders Ben Funkhouser and Nick Heinrichs. Of the other returning letterwinners, midfielder Tye Perdido started eight of his 20 appearances.
The Broncos, who will be returning seven starters from last year's squad, received six first place votes for a total of 36 points. This marks the fourth time in the past five years that SCU Clara has been voted the pre-season favorite.
Tabbed second was the University of San Diego, which totaled 30 points with one first place vote. Rounding out the top three was the University of Portland (25), which advanced to last year's NCAA Tournament. Behind Portland were the University of San Francisco (20), Loyola Marymount University (14), Gonzaga and Saint Mary's College (10).
The Broncos return 15 letterwinners from last year's squad, including two of their top three scorers from last season. Leading the way for Santa Clara will be last year's WCC Freshman of the Year and All-WCC first team member, Jalil Anibaba (1g, 2a). Also expected to make contributions this year will be Stephen McCarthy (6g, 1a), a 2007 All-WCC second team selection, and Jide Ogunbiyi (6g, 2a), who earned honorable mention all-conference honors last season. The Broncos also welcome in the 9th best recruiting class in the country, according to Collegesoccernews.com.
The Toreros will be returning nine starters and 16 letterwinners from last year. San Diego returns two of the top defenders in the conference in senior Sam Reeder and junior Tim Grey, as both players earned All-WCC second team honors last season.
The Pilots, who return six starters and 16 letterwinners from last year, advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2004. Headlining the list of returners for Portland is junior midfielder Collen Warner (3g, 4a) and sophomore goalkeeper Austin Guerrero, both of whom earned All-WCC first team honors last season.
The Dons, looking for their fourth trip to the NCAA Tournament in the last five years, return six starters and 18 letterwinners. Loyola Marymount returns six starters and 18 letterwinners, including sophomore forward/midfielder Rafael Baca, who was named to the All-WCC second team and the All-WCC freshman squad. Saint Mary's will be led by junior midfielder Dylan Leslie, a 2007 All-WCC first team selection, and senior defender Corey Heldreth, an All-WCC second team member last season.
West Coast Conference Men's Soccer
2008 Preseason Poll
(First-place votes in parenthesis)
1. Santa Clara (6) 362. San Diego (1) 303. Portland 254. San Francisco 205. Loyola Marymount 146. Gonzaga 127. Saint Mary's 10
