CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Mid-American Conference announced Monday that the Akron Zips have been selected by the coaches to win the men’s soccer regular season and MAC tournament championship in 2019.
The Zipsare set to return seven starters in 2019, including four 2018 All-Mid-American Conference performers, from a squad that finished with an overall record of 15-7-2 and captured the MAC Tournament title en route to advancing to title match of the College Cup for the fourth time in program history.
2017 regular season champion Western Michigan finished 2
nd in the poll and received one vote to win the 2019 regular season. The Broncos reached the MAC Championship match in 2018 after finishing the regular season 11-6-3, eventually falling to Akron 3-0 in the final.
Last year’s regular season champion West Virginia was chosen to finish third in the 2019 poll after going undefeated in conference play and finishing the 2018 campaign 14-7. The Mountaineers will return nine players who started at least 15 times last fall, including senior defender Pascal Derwaritsch and senior midfielder Andres Muriel Albino, who tied for second on the team with six goals each.
First year head coach Cale Wasserman and SIU-Edwardsville finished in 4
th place in the poll after 2018 saw them finish with a record of 9-5-4 (1-3-1 MAC).
Bowling Green and Northern Illinois round out the MAC finishing the poll in 5
thand 6
thplace.
Regular season play is scheduled to open Friday, August 30, when five out of the six MAC teams will be in action against non-conference opponents. Conference play will begin Saturday, October 12, as a trio of games between the six conference opponents that weekend will determine the first rankings of the season.
Click here to view the complete 2019 MAC Men’s Soccer Schedule.
2019 MAC Men’s Soccer Preseason Poll Results
Akron - 35 total points (5 First Place Votes)
Western Michigan - 27 (1)
West Virginia – 22
SIUE - 15
Bowling Green - 14
Northern Illinois - 13
MAC Tournament Champion- Akron (5), Western Michigan (1)
