UConn Men's Soccer Picked Third, Women's Soccer Picked To Win American

The coaches’ poll for American men’s soccer came out on Tuesday with Ray Reid's Huskies selected to finish third, with 40 points and two first-place votes.

SMU is the current frontrunner, with 47 points and five of the eight first-place votes. The USF Bulls check in at second, one point ahead of UConn with 41 points and the remaining first-place vote. Tulsa closes out the top half, registering 32 points.

Temple, UCF, and Cincinnati are the next three as we get into the bottom half of the league, with Memphis picked to finish last.

There were also a couple of individual honors as well. After a 2015 First-Team All-Conference selection, senior defender Jake Nerwinski took home the preseason Defensive Player of the Year. He and three others were named to the preseason All-Conference team.

Nerwinski and senior midfielder Kwame Awuah were both named to the All-Conference team unanimously, while sophomore defender Simen Olafson and sophomore forward Abdou Mbacke Thiam were both also named to the team.

As for the women's team, they were unanimously selected to finish first in the conference, with 81 points and all possible first-place votes. This comes as no surprise, as the Huskies are defending AAC regular season champs and return most of their squad from a year ago. The Huskies were also the only team in the conference to be ranked in the preseason Top 25, coming in at 15.

In the rest of the American, USF was picked to finish second, with UCF and Cincinnati tied for third. USF and UCF were the only other schools in the conference to get votes for the Top 25, but both were left out.

Rachel Hill was named unanimous preseason offensive player of the year, with Emily Armstrong getting the preseason goalkeeper of the year. Both players, along with forward Stephanie Ribeiro, were named to the preseason all-conference team. Hill was one of five to be a unanimous selection.

The American Conference also announced its slate of games on the American Digital Network (ADN). The men will have two games broadcast, on October 1st at Tulsa and October 15th against USF at home, while the women will have one, against USF at home on August 16th.

The men open up their season on August 26, when they welcome Iona to Morrone Stadium for a 7 p.m. kickoff. The women start August 19th against Northeastern at Morrone at 7 p.m. as well.