2016 CC Preseason Poll | Preseason Guide
LANCASTER, Pa. – The Ursinus College men's soccer team was slotted ninth in the Centennial Conference preseason poll released Tuesday morning by the league office.
Ursinus earned 24 points in a sampling of the league's head coaches. Defending champion Haverford, which advanced all the way to the NCAA quarterfinals a year ago, was chosen to reclaim its crown; the Fords collected 78 points and six first-place votes from conference managers to narrowly edge Franklin & Marshall, which received the other four first-place ballots and finished with 75 points. Haverford returns four all-conference selections to the fold in 2016, including a first team honoree in midfielder Will Corkery, who led the league in assists (13) and ranked second in points (31) a year ago. The Diplomats bring back three all-league choices and last year's Rookie of the Year in forward Ugo Okolie, who registered six goals and six assists as a freshman.
2015 league runner-up Dickinson was picked third with 66 points, and the Red Devils were succeeded in the poll by Johns Hopkins (53), Gettysburg (46), Muhlenberg (44), Swarthmore (28), Washington College (27), Ursinus (24), and McDaniel (14).
The Bears are set to begin a new era under first-year head coach Keith Cappo, who takes the reins after two years as an assistant with the women's program at Temple. Cappo, a former all-conference selection at Catholic University, has the benefit of a host of returning starters hungry to erase the sting of last season's winless conference campaign.
Despite losing Ryan Butler, who ranks third in school history in goals and points, to graduation, Ursinus will feature an experienced leader in midfielder Ryan Molyneaux. The senior captain was a second team All-CC honoree a year ago and is the Bears' active leader in goals (9), assists (12), and points (30). Molyneaux will be joined in the midfield by classmates Noah Kimelheim, who has started all 49 games of his Ursinus career, and Justin Mendez, who tied for second on the team with three goals last season.
Senior Stephen Meixner, who started all 16 games of the 2015 season, returns to anchor the defense in front of fellow fourth-year Vince Maiorino, who tallied a 1.70 goals-against average and a .772 save percentage in his first year as the starting netminder.
Cappo will look for increased offensive production from senior Aaron Nelson (1 assist in 14 starts) and sophomore Ben Amaral (1 goal, 1 assist in 8 starts) in an effort to bolster the scoring punch of a unit that averaged slightly more than a goal per game in 2015.
The Bears kick off the season – and the 2016-17 Ursinus Athletics calendar – at home against Susquehanna on Thursday, September 1.