Men's Soccer Selected to Finish Third in CCC
Leopards earn 76 points and one first-place vote in the conference's annual preseason coaches' poll
CCC Preseason Poll Video
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – After claiming the 2015 Commonwealth Coast Conference men's soccer title, Gordon College has been selected to repeat as champions in the 2016 CCC men's soccer preseason coaches' poll.
The Fighting Scots, who captured their first league title since 2003 during the 2015 campaign, brought in 94 points and six of the possible 10 first place votes that were cast by the league's head men's soccer coaches.
Endicott was picked to finish second with 90 points, including three first-place votes, while Wentworth was selected to finish third after garnering 76 points and taking the other first-place vote.
Rounding out the top-five were Western New England and Salve Regina who earned 67 and 60 points respectively.
Roger Williams (59 points), Nichols (41), Curry (30), the University of New England (19), Eastern Nazarene (14) close out this year's ledger in that order.
The 2015 Wentworth men's soccer team tied a program record for victories with 15 a season ago and advanced to the semifinal round of both the Commonwealth Coast Conference and ECAC Tournaments. The 15 wins were more than the previous four seasons combined and with 19 letterwinners returning from a season ago – including three of the team's top five scorers – this year's edition of the Leopards look to make a run at their first CCC title since the 1996 campaign. Junior Emmett Basaca (San Diego, Calif.), who was both First Team All-CCC and Third Team All-New England as a sophomore, helps to anchor a defense which allowed just over a goal a game in 2015. Junior Michael Zendan (Charlotte, N.C.), a third team all-conference selection last season returns after scoring three goals and assisting on nine others for 15 points. His five assists in conference play tied him for the league lead and he was second overall with his nine assists. Sophomore Noah Martins (Dartmouth, Mass.) led the team in scoring as a freshman, scoring 24 points on nine goals and six assists.
The men's soccer schedule gets underway on Thursday, Sept. 1 with five CCC teams in non-conference action, including when Wentworth is at Wheaton at 5:00 p.m. The Conference schedule starts up on Sept. 10. The top eight teams in the 2016 regular season conference standings will qualify for the CCC Tournament, which starts with the quarterfinals on Saturday, Oct. 29 and concludes with the Conference Championship a week later on Nov. 5.