RIPON, Wis. - For the fifth straight season Carroll heads the pack of title contenders after receiving eight first place votes and 98 points in the 2012 Midwest Conference (MWC) Preseason Coaches Poll. The Pioneers have captured three of the last four MWC Championships and have earned a trip to the NCAA Tournament in four of the past five years.
Lake Forest captured the other three first place votes and came in second with 90 points while Beloit (79 points) and Monmouth (66) were predicted to earn trips to the MWC Tournament. Lawrence is pegged to just miss out on the tournament in fifth place with 65 points while Grinnell (51) and Illinois Col. (42) come in at sixth and seventh, respectively. St. Norbert (39), Ripon (37), Cornell (25) and Knox (13) round out the 11 team field.
Cornell returns to the MWC after playing the last 15 years in the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC). The Rams, a charter MWC member, have won the MWC two times in school history with the last championship coming in the 1982 season.
There will be a lot of talent returning in 2012 as 14 of the 22 All-MWC award winners will be back with their respective teams which include Player of the Year Logan Simpson (Monmouth) and Offensive Player of the Year Mahir Mameledzija (Lake Forest). Other All-MWC First Team players returning are Jackson Wilkins (Beloit), Alvaro Calle (Ripon), Marc Robinson (Beloit), Mark Gore (Carroll) and Trevor Donahue (Illinois Col.).
Voting is done by the MWC head men’s soccer coaches. Each coach votes for the ten other schools in the conference in order of predicted finish. Points are assigned in reverse order of voting (ten points for first, nine for second, etc.). Coaches may not vote for their own teams.
2012 MWC Men's Soccer Preseason Coaches Poll
|
Place |
Team (First Place Votes) |
Points |
|
1 |
Carroll (8) |
98 |
|
2 |
Lake Forest (3) |
90 |
|
3 |
Beloit |
79 |
|
4 |
Monmouth |
66 |
|
5 |
Lawrence |
65 |
|
6 |
Grinnell |
51 |
|
7 |
Illinois Col. |
42 |
|
8 |
St. Norbert |
39 |
|
9 |
Ripon |
37 |
|
10 |
Cornell |
25 |
|
11 |
Knox |
13 |
Team Previews:
1. Carroll Pioneers
2011 Record: 11-8-1, 8-1-0
Returning All-MWC First Team: 1
Returning All-MWC Second Team: 3
Carroll swept the MWC titles last year after winning the MWC Championship with an 8-1 conference mark and won the MWC Tournament with a 2-0 shutout win over Beloit. Rick Mobley placed six players on the 2011 All-MWC team and returns four of those members in 2012. The Pioneers have another strong defensive team led by All-MWC First Team selection Mark Gore and second team goaltender Tomek Miaskowski. Gore added three assists on the season in 17 games while Miaskowski posted seven shutouts and a 1.16 goals against average (third in MWC). The Carroll offense needs to replace Jordan Wickman who led the team in points (22) and game winning goals (six) and will do so on the backs of All-MWC Second Team selections Andy Ksobiech and Dan Czernicki. Czernicki scored nine goals and added a pair of assists with Ksobiech scoring five goals, adding an assist, as the duo netted a pair of game winning goals.
2. Lake Forest Foresters
2011 Record: 13-3-3, 5-2-2
Returning All-MWC First Team: 1
Returning All-MWC Second Team: 2
Lake Forest earned a league-best 13 overall wins last season and return three All-MWC performers for Head Coach Chris Bergmann. Leading the charge is 2011 MWC Offensive Player of the Year Mahir Mameledzija, who scored 13 goals and tallied 32 points for the Foresters, both of which were second-best in the conference. As a team Lake Forest led the conference with 45 goals while allowing only 14 in 19 contests. Alexi Spiratos (four goals, seven assists) and Steven Johnson (three assists) were both All-MWC Second Team selections and are joined by Jordan Hartman (four goals, five assists) for a formidable offense. Goalkeeper Giancarlo Colasanti was in net for three shutouts and finished the season with a miniscule 0.79 goals against average and a .804 save percentage, only allowing ten goals.
3. Beloit Buccaneers
2011 Record: 8-8-2, 6-2-1
Returning All-MWC First Team: 1
Returning All-MWC Second Team: 0
Tim Schmeichen had the Bucs on the cusp of the school’s first MWC Tournament title but Carroll spoiled those plans for a Beloit team that finished the year with a 6-2-1 conference mark. While a MWC Tournament title was just out of the reach in 2011 the 2012 version brings back a strong nucleus of players to contend for a spot in the NCAA Tournament. All-MWC First Team selection Jackson Wilkins is back after finishing in a tie for third in the league with 22 points and nine goals. Fellow first team selection Marc Robinson will join Wilkins on the front line after eight goals and two assists, also earning three game winning goals. Midfielders Anthony Racine and Spencer Moore each scored a pair of goals while also providing strong defense in front of keeper BJ Kiser. Kiser earned a 1.41 goals against average and .792 save percentage while making the third most saves in the league (99).
4. Monmouth Fighting Scots
2011 Record: 8-6-2, 5-2-2
Returning All-MWC First Team: 1
Returning All-MWC Second Team: 2
Monmouth narrowly missed out on a trip to the 2011 MWC Tournament and aim to get back to the tournament for the first time since 2001 under first year Head Coach Barry McNamara. The Fighting Scots return a talented lineup in 2012 led by the MWC Player of the Year Logan Simpson. Simpson led the entire league in goals (14) and points (37) all while shooting better than 23%. The duo of Jordan Lankford and Jake Scimeca will patrol the midfield as both started in all 16 games last season and each contributed a goal. Monmouth allowed only 25 goals in 16 contests thanks to the strong defensive play from keeper Matt Schmidt. Schmidt boasted a 1.55 goals against average with a .829 save percentage (third in MWC).
5. Lawrence Vikings
2011 Record: 9-10-1, 6-2-1
Returning All-MWC First Team: 0
Returning All-MWC Second Team: 1
Blake Johnson is back for his 13th season as Head Coach of the Vikings and aims to continue the success of the Lawrence program over the last two seasons where his teams have made two MWC Tournament appearances and won 12 league games. Midfielder David Caprile scored five goals and added two assists to lead the Lawrence offense last season and will be relied upon to do the same this season. Karl Mayer added five points from his midfield position which included a pair of goals and will help replace the loss of Cince Butitta and Stephen Exarhos who both graduated after combining for six goals and three assists. The Vikings defense should improve after giving up 38 goals last season with the return of All-MWC Second Team defender Charlie Mann. Mann scored a pair of goals with his defensive counterpart Hashim Allah-Morad scoring a goal and adding three assists. Steven Solomon is back in net after recording a 2.26 goals against average and making 64 saves.
6. Grinnell Pioneers
2011 Record: 5-10-2, 3-5-1
Returning All-MWC First Team: 0
Returning All-MWC Second Team: 1
After earning a trip to the NCAA Tournament in the 2009 season the Pioneers missed the tournament for the first time since 2005 season under Head Coach Brian Jaworski. Joseph Brown is the top returning scorer from 2011 after tallying three goals and assisting on three others, playing in all 17 games. Benjamin Charney (six points), Rockne Decoster (five points) and Omeed Kashef (five points) each had a pair of goals last season and will compliment Brown in replacing two of the top-3 scorers that were lost from last year. All-MWC Second Team selection Kanatip Winichakul leads the Pioneers on the backend after starting in all 17 games while Isaiah Tyree will take over the goalkeeping duties after appearing in four games and making six saves in 2011.
7. Illinois Col. Blueboys
2011 Record: 8-7-3, 3-5-1
Returning All-MWC First Team: 1
Returning All-MWC Second Team: 0
Illinois Col. took a big step forward in 2011 under Head Coach Steve Golas as the Blueboys ended the season with eight wins which was five more than they had in the 2010 season. Evan Baker and Ray Fiifi Nkum are back in 2012 after leading the offensive charge for a team that scored the fourth most goals in the league (31) last season. Baker was sixth in the conference with eight goals, three game winners, while also finishing seventh with 17 points and Nkum scored six goals and had 14 points. Alex Gagnor (ten points) scored three goals to add to a deep offensive team. The Blueboys allowed the third fewest goals in the league (24) largely due to the play of All-MWC First Team goalkeeper Trevor Donahue. Donahue finished second in the league with a .844 save percentage and seven saves per game while shutting out opponents on four different occasions.
8. St. Norbert Green Knights
2011 Record: 2-14-1, 2-6-1
Returning All-MWC First Team: 0
Returning All-MWC Second Team: 0
St. Norbert hasn’t reached the MWC Tournament since the 2009 season and looks for a trip to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2006 when they made the tournament for the fifth straight year. Head coach Derek Rhodes welcomes back his top two scorers from a year ago for a team that managed only 15 goals. Jeff Hayes scored a team-best four goals and picked up the only two game winning goals on the team while shooting 21%. Trevor Scales was right behind Hayes with three goals and six points while Kyryll Vasylenko was the other Green Knight to find the back of the net more than one time (two goals). Scott Faul will take over in net after splitting time last season when he appeared in nine games and made 32 saves in over 525 minutes.
9. Ripon Red Hawks
2011 Record: 4-11-3, 2-6-1
Returning All-MWC First Team: 1
Returning All-MWC Second Team: 0
After winning the MWC Championship in the 2010 season Ripon failed to make the MWC Tournament in 2011 and strives to do so again under first year head coach Sam Schroeder. The Red Hawks scored a league-low 14 goals last season but return their top two point scorers, Spencer Reisbick and Alvaro Calle. Both Reisbick and Calle recorded seven points last season with Reisbick scoring three goals and Calle assisting on five goals while scoring one. Daniel Mikesell was one of three keepers last season to earn time as he made 28 saves in six games started posting a 1.98 goals against average and a .700 save percentage.
10. Cornell Rams
2011 Record: 1-17-0, 0-8-0 IIAC
Returning All-IIAC First Team: 0
Returning All-IIAC Second Team: 0
Cornell is welcomed back into the MWC after playing in the IIAC since 1997. Under third-year Head Coach Andres Leza, Cornell will compete to win a MWC Championship for the first time since the 1982 season. Cody Perreault is the top returnee for Cornell after scoring three goals and an assist with one of those goals scored as a game winner. Forward Alex Beehler is a two-time honorable mention all-conference performer. Jordan Setser tended goal in 17 games last season and had a 3.79 goals against average, making 143 saves.
11. Knox Prairie Fire
2011 Record: 1-16-0, 0-9-0
Returning All-MWC First Team: 0
Returning All-MWC Second Team: 0
The Prairie Fire look to earn their first conference win since the 2008 season under first year Head Coach Matt Edwards. Maxwell Gatyas led Knox in scoring last season with 14 points (five goals, four assists) while starting in all 17 games. Donald Tchopya netted four goals last season and assisted on another to flank Gatyas on the front line. Edwards needs to find a replacement for keeper Franz Huebner who played in 16 games last year and made 97 saves with a 4.88 goals against average. Freshman Sean McGovern will most likely find time behind the pipes while Dillon Kostka will guide a young defensive core after appearing in 17 games last year where he tallied one goal.