JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn – For the second consecutive season, the Carson-Newman men's soccer team has been picked to finish second in the South Atlantic Conference's preseason poll.
In 2015, the Eagles won a share of the regular season conference title by going 9-2 in the SAC and rose as high as No. 13 in the national rankings. They finished with a 15-3-2 overall record and earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the ninth time in their history.
The team brings back three of it's top four goal scorers as well as four of it's top five point getters. Tom Read returns off a season in which he posted the best assist per game average in the nation(0.89) and led the SAC in points with 32. Read and Marius Staalby also tied for fourth in the conference with eight goals. Defenseman Thibault Mathorez is back following a freshman season in which he was named first-team All-SAC. Bruno Andrade and Polymnios Avgousti also earned recognition as honorable mention all-conference.
In goal, the team has four players competing for the starting spot in senior transfer Aaron Zavolokin, junior Luke Greer, sophomore Casper Nyberg and freshman Joe Boyd. Boyd and Zavolokin are two of thirteen new players on the Eagles' roster this year. That also group includes Bristol, Tenn. native Evan Harr, who was a three-time first-team All-Conference and All-Region selection in high school. Freshman Tobias Karlsen spent three years playing U19 soccer in Norway and totaled 12 goals during his 2015 campaign.
The Wingate Bulldogs have been picked as the class of the SAC following a season in which they shared the SAC regular season title with Carson-Newman and won the conference tournament. They received nine first place votes and 119 points. Carson-Newman was the only other team to receive first place votes with three.
Lincoln Memorial landed third in the poll, which is where they finished the 2015 regular season, with 95 points. They posted a 10-3-3 overall record and went 7-3-1 in the SAC.
Queens received 92 points in the poll to place fourth while, Tusculum's 77 points put them at fifth.
Anderson was ranked sixth with 71 points while 65 points placed Lenoir-Rhyne seventh.
Mars Hill totaled 46 points, which was good for eighth place and edged out Catawba, whose 44 points put them ninth.
Coker came in at tenth with 33 points, while Newberry's been slated for 11th and Brevard for 12th and last.
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