Contact: Jenna McElroy, Sports Info & Social Media Intern, mcelroy@midwestconference.org

GRINNELL, Iowa – Last year saw three different teams crowned Midwest Conference (MWC) Soccer Champions as St. Norbert College and Knox College tied for the regular season title, and three-seed Lake Forest College won the MWC Tournament and earned the conference’s berth to the NCAA Tournament. This season should be another wild one as all three programs received at least three first-place votes leaving them separated by only six points in the annual preseason coaches’ poll.

St. Norbert topped the poll with four first-place firsts and 76 points, while Knox followed just three points behind picking up three first-place votes for 73 points. Lake Forest came in another three points behind the Prairie Fire with 70 points and earned the remaining three first-place votes. One of the three programs has won the regular season every year since 2012 and the MWC Tournament four of the last five seasons.

The coaches’ picked Grinnell College to earn the fourth-seed for the third year in a row as the Pioneers received 54 points. Cornell College rounded out the top-five with 48 points, while Illinois College (39) and Monmouth College (34) hope to break into the top half of the standings as they placed sixth and seventh respectively.

Completing the preseason poll is Beloit College (29) in eighth, Lawrence University (15) in ninth, and Ripon College (12) in tenth place.

All ten teams kick off the season on Friday, August 31 with ten more games over Saturday and Sunday. The conference portion of the schedule beings on Saturday, September 22 with four games featuring Illinois College at Knox, Grinnell at Beloit, Monmouth at Cornell, and St. Norbert at Lawrence. The MWC regular season champion hosts the MWC Tournament on Nov. 2-3.

Full poll results:

1. St. Norbert	76 (4)		6. Illinois College	39
2. Knox	73 (3)		7. Monmouth	34
3. Lake Forest	70 (3)		8. Beloit	29
4. Grinnell	54		9. Lawrence	15
5. Cornell	48		10. Ripon	12

Below is a team-by-team preview:

Beloit College Buccaneers
Head Coach: Duncan Gillis (2nd season) 5-10-1, 2-6-1 MWC
2017: 5-10-1, 2-6-1 MWC
Projected 2018 Finish: 8th
Returning Starters: 9
Returning All-MWC Performers: First Team – Jose Gutierrez Sr. M
 
The Buccaneers have an experienced squad in 2018 as they return nine starters from last season led by All-MWC midfielder Jose Gutierrez. Gutierrez led the team with nine goals and one assist tying for fourth in the conference in goals, tying for fifth with three game-winning goals, and ranking fifth in the conference with 19 points. Freddy Widmer and Deji Agunbiade also return after combining for three goals and two assists last year. Senior Alex Lyon looks to take over in net after playing in four games in 2017 and making 16 saves.
 
Cornell College Rams
Head Coach: Nate Grosse (5th season) 22-43-7, 8-27-2 MWC
2017: 8-9-1, 4-5 MWC
Projected 2018 Finish: 5th
Returning Starters: 10
Returning All-MWC Performers: Second Team – Pietro Amado Sr. M/F
 
Cornell equaled the school record for wins in a season for the second consecutive year but has not qualified for the MWC Tournament since 1991. Second Team All-MWC player Pietro Amado hopes to lead the Rams to the postseason after he led the team with ten goals, four game-winners, and one assist for 21 points in 2018, while also finishing the season 7-for-7 on penalty kicks. Amado’s points and goals ranked third in the conference and his game-winning goals tied for the league lead. Goalie Jerome Richards’ career goals-against average of 1.80 ranks No. 1 in Cornell history and his 2017 season goals-against average of 1.37 ranked third in the conference. Watch for Richards to become the Rams all-time career wins’ leader in 2018 as his 17 career wins are three shy of the school record.
 
Grinnell College Pioneers
Head Coach: Brian Jaworski (15th season) 116-106-24, 72-45-11 MWC
2017: 9-9-1, 6-3 MWC
Projected 2018 Finish: 4th
Returning Starters: 6
Returning All-MWC Performers: Second Team – Thomas Pflipsen Jr. D
 
The Pioneers have appeared in the MWC Tournament in eight of the last twelve years and look to qualify for their fourth consecutive postseason led by two-time All-MWC defender Thomas Pflipsen. Top returning scorers from 2017 are Carlos Piedrasanta who had five goals and midfielder Evan Sorenson who scored four goals and had two assists. Goalies Michael Spicer and Jared Cloutier both return after combining for 66 saves and a 1.67 goals-against average in 2017.
 
Illinois College Blueboys
Head Coach: Kurt Albrecht (4th season) 22-26-6, 10-13-3 MWC
2017: 9-8-1, 4-4-1 MWC
Projected 2018 Finish: 6th
Returning Starters: 6
 
Illinois College seeks there first postseason appearance since 2014, and with last season’s leading scorer Brock Ziegemeier returning the Blueboys hope to do just that. Ziegemeier led the team last season with seven goals and three assists for 17 points and ranked in the league’s top-ten for points, goals, and goals per game. Thomas Saitta returns after scoring three goals in 2017, while senior midfielder Ryan May is back after leading the team with four assists and adding a goal. All-MWC goalkeeper Ty Clearwater graduated, and Raul Rubalcava looks to get an opportunity after making four saves in 58 minutes of in goal last season. 
 
Knox College Prairie Fire
Head Coach: Brian O’Connor (Interim)
2017: 13-3-4, 8-0-1 MWC
Projected 2018 Finish: 2nd
Returning Starters: 7
Returning All-MWC Performers: First Team - Rocky Plaza Sr. M; Second Team – Alessandro Benelli So. D,
 
Knox is still seeking their first outright conference title since 2014 after finishing 2017 with an 8-0-1 conference record to be named regular season co-champion with St. Norbert. The Prairie Fire return All-MWC midfielder Rocky Plaza as well as the reigning MWC Newcomer of the Year in defenseman Alessandro Benelli who started all 20 games as a freshman and scored a goal. The two led a defense that topped the conference in goals-against average (.81) and shutouts (12) and surrendered a league-low 16 goals. The league-leading goalie in goals-against average (.64), save percentage (.843), and shutouts (9) is back in Justin Dunn who finished the season with an 11-2-2 record. Offensively, Jun Min returns after scoring six goals with three assists, and Nick Janulis added four goals and one assist.
 
Lake Forest College Foresters
Head Coach: Dan Andrews (4th season) 36-22-2, 22-6 MWC
2017: 12-7-1, 7-2 MWC
Projected 2018 Finish: 3rd
Returning Starters: 5
Returning All-MWC Performers: Second Team – Gaston Aubert Sr. M/F, Lucas Gelb Jr. F
 
Lake Forest may have been picked to finish third in the standings, but the Foresters won the 2017 MWC Tournament as the third-seed and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in five seasons. In 2018, the team features Second Team All-MWC duo Gaston Aubert and Lucas Gelb. Aubert tied for the team lead with 19 points on seven goals and five assists, while Gelb tied him for second on the team in goals and added four assists for 18 points. Aubert also tied for the league lead with four game-winning goals, while Gelb had three. Goalie Tero Elias returns after ranking fourth in the conference in goals-against average (1.52), saves (68), saves per game (4.25), and shutouts (4) and ranked fifth in save percentage (.764).
 
Lawrence University Vikings
Head Coach: Will Greer (2nd season) 7-21-2, 2-14-2 MWC
2017: 2-14-2, 0-8-1 MWC
Projected 2018 Finish: 9th
Returning Starters: 9
 
The Vikings look to get back into the conference win column in 2018 as nine starters return. Nicholas Jatta leads the returners as he was first on the team with eight assists and 14 points and second with three goals in his freshman season. In his first match with the team, Jatta set a Lawrence record with four assists in one game and helped the Vikings to a 4-0 win over Lakeland College. Jawad Alweleidat also returns after leading the team with four goals. Julien Riviere started 14 games in goal as a freshman ranking second in the conference in saves (115) and saves per game (8.21) and finished with a save percentage of .714.
 
Monmouth College Fighting Scots
Head Coach: Kooten Johnson (6th season) 26-57-6, 18-26-4 MWC
2017: 3-13-2, 2-5-2 MWC
Projected 2018 Finish: 7th
Returning Starters: 10
 
The Fighting Scots return their top-two scorers in Agustin Miranda and Lucas Sondgeroth for 2018. Miranda led the team in goals (5) and points (10), while Sondgeroth tied for the team lead with three assists and added three goals and each contributed a game-winning goal. Monmouth returns seven players who started at least 16 of the teams 18 games including defensemen Charles Cranford and Connor Oltman and midfielders Alvaro Alvarez and Mario Sanchez.
 
Ripon College Red Hawks
Head Coach: Zach Hershoff (4th season) 13-37-3, 2-25-1 MWC
2017: 2-14-2, 0-8-1 MWC
Projected 2018 Finish: 10th
Returning Starters: 7
 
The Red Hawks return 92 percent of their goals and points from last season with all of their starters but the goalie back for 2018. Leading the way are Grant Grywalsky and Devin Hoaglin who tied for the team lead with three goals. Grywalsky also added two assists for a team-best eight points. Defensively, Ripon will lean on Zach Carlson and Rex Schultz who have started 35 of 35 and 33 of 35 of the team’s games the past two seasons. Carlson also provided a little offense last year as he scored a goal and had an assist. In goal, the Red Hawks will look to Cole Jurish who made 13 saves in 90 minutes of playing over three games as a freshman in 2017.
 
St. Norbert College Green Knights
Head Coach: Derek Rhodes (7th season) 69-32-15, 41-9-8 MWC
2017: 14-4-2, 8-0-1 MWC
Projected 2018 Finish: 1st
Returning Starters: 5
Returning All-MWC Performers: First Team – Ben Prange Jr. M/F; Second Team – Josh Koleske Jr. G
 
St. Norbert has earned at least a share of either the MWC regular season or MWC tournament titles the past three seasons after being named regular season co-champions with Knox last season. All-MWC duo Ben Prange and Josh Koleske will lead the Green Knights in 2018. Prange is the reigning MWC Offensive Player of the Year after earning MWC Newcomer of the Year honors as a freshman. He led the conference in both 2016 and 2017 with 12 and 17 goals respectively and including his six career assists he has a two-year total of 64 points, with his 36 last season leading the league. Koleske has been one of the conference’s top goalies over his two seasons as the junior is a two-time All-MWC honoree. In 2017, Koleske ranked second in goals-against average (1.01) and shutouts (8) as he surrendered only 17 goals.