Thomas More College was selected as the 2016 favorite in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) men’s soccer preseason coaches’ poll, as voted on by the league’s nine head coaches. The results of the preseason coaches’ poll were unveiled on Thursday.
A similar poll also wound up with the Saints’ women on top.
Thomas More, led by second-year head coach Eric Busener, collected six first-place votes and 78 total points to earn the top spot on the preseason coaches’ poll for the fourth-straight year. Grove City College picked up one first-place vote and 65 points to finish second, while Geneva College secured one first-place vote and finished third with 64 points.
Washington & Jefferson College checked in at number four with 56 points while 2015 PAC Championship Tournament winner Westminster College collected the final first-place vote to finish fifth with 51 points.
Thomas More returns eight starters and 23 letter winners in 2016 and enters the season as one of 10 schools also receiving votes in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) NCAA Division III preseason ranking.
The Saints, despite watching their six-year run as league champions come to an end following a 2-1 semifinal loss to eventual conference tournament title winner Westminster last fall, earned the program’s seventh-straight appearance in the NCAA Division III Championship.
The 2016 players to watch list includes a pair of 2015 All-PAC first team selections in Thomas More seniors Tim Knauer (Batavia, Ohio/Batavia) and Brian Runyon (Parkersburg, W.Va./Parkersburg). Knauer, a midfielder, started 18 matches last fall and helped the Saints post seven shutouts, including five against league counterparts. Runyon, a forward, started 17 matches last season and finished second in the PAC in points (44), goals (17) and assists (10). Both Knauer and Runyon earned NSCAA Division III All-Great Lakes Region honors last fall.
The Saints open the 2016 season on Sept. 1 when they travel to Granville, Ohio to play Dension University at 7 p.m.
Thomas More women favored for fifth straight year
For the fifth-straight season the Thomas More College women’s soccer program was designated the favorite in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) preseason coaches’ poll, as voted on by the league’s 10 head coaches. The results of this year’s preseason coaches’ poll were unveiled on Thursday.
The Saints and 11th-year head coach Jeff Cummings collected eight first-place votes and 98 total points. Washington & Jefferson College picked up the final pair of first-place votes and finished second with 89 points while Grove City College was third with 81 points.
Thomas More made its fifth-straight appearance in the NCAA Division III Championship last fall, earning the league’s automatic qualifying bid by winning its fifth-straight PAC Championship Tournament title and advancing to the Division III Championship’s sectional semifinal round for the third-straight season. The Saints have also posted four straight PAC regular season titles.
The Saints bring back nine starters and 20 letter winners from last fall and enter the 2016 season number nine in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) NCAA Division III preseason ranking.
Thomas More opens the 2016 season on Sept. 1 when it hosts Wittenberg University at 5 p.m. at BB&T Field in Crestview Hills, Kentucky.
From TMC Athletics