Terps Picked First in ACC Preseason Poll
8/22/2012 8:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Aug. 22, 2012
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Maryland is the preseason favorite to claim the 2012 Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Soccer Championship, according to a vote of the league's nine head coaches.
The Terps, who return two MAC Hermann Trophy Preseason Watch List candidates in senior defender Taylor Kemp and senior midfielder John Stertzer, amassed 72 total points in the balloting. Defending NCAA and ACC champion North Carolina placed second with 71 points in the coaches' vote, which awarded nine points for each first-place ballot, eight points for each second-place, etc.
Maryland received three first-place votes, while UNC led with four. Wake Forest, which finished third in the balloting with 60 total points, picked up the other two first-place votes.
Boston College was picked for a fourth-place ACC finish, while Virginia was projected fifth and Duke sixth. Clemson, NC State and Virginia Tech rounded out the preseason voting.
The ACC is coming off a 2011 season that saw six teams receive NCAA Tournament berths and UNC claim the conference's 15th national title. The ACC has placed at least one team in the Men's College Cup each of the past 11 seasons. Conference teams have claimed five of the last seven NCAA titles, and an ACC team has appeared in the championship game on 22 occasions.
Three ACC teams were ranked in the 2012 NSCAA Men's Soccer Preseason Top 25 released earlier this month (UNC at No. 1, Maryland at No. 9 and Boston College at No. 14). Virginia, Duke and Wake Forest were among the top four teams receiving votes.
Maryland faces Louisville Sunday in its home opener. Game time is slated for 7 p.m. at Ludwig Field.
