LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - Trinity University has been selected as the preseason favorite based on balloting from league head coaches heading into the 2019 SCAC men's soccer season.
The TU Tigers, who posted a 17-2-3 record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 17th-straight season in 2018, earned nine of the ten first-place votes cast by league coaches to finish atop the poll with 99 points. Colorado College, coming off its eighth-straight season with 10 or more wins finished second in the poll with 88 points, while Texas Lutheran received the final first-place vote to finish third in the poll with 78 total points following its highest mark for league wins since joining the SCAC with nine last year. After advancing to the SCAC Tournament Championship for the first time since 2013, Southwestern University checked in at fourth with 75 points and the University of Dallas rounded out the top the top-five in fifth with 54 points. Austin College, which posted its third-straight winning season in 2018 – a program-first in the NCAA era – earned the sixth position with 43 points. The University of St. Thomas, which will debut as a member of the SCAC in 2019, received 39 points to finish seventh in the preseason balloting. Rounding out the coaches' selections was Johnson & Wales University (Denver) (32 points), Schreiner University (25 points) and Centenary College (17 points).
Trinity enters the 2019 season under the direction of head coach Paul McGinlay for the 29th consecutive season. In 28 seasons at the helm, McGinlay has complied an outstanding record of 497-78-29 (.847), 10 national quarterfinal appearances and the 2003 national championship. The Tigers, who are coming off their seventh-consecutive SCAC Title and 22nd overall, return 55 percent of their goal scoring from a season ago. Junior midfielder Quentin Van Der Lee, a third-team USC All-America selection, registered four goals and sent out six assists while playing a key role for the league's stingiest defense (0.74 GAA) that produced 10 shutouts during the 2018 campaign. The Tigers will count on another pair of junior midfielders with the return of Jacob Hallenberger and Andrea Codispoti. Hallenberger tied for the team lead in points with 25 (7 goals, 11 assists) while earning First Team All-SCAC honors, and Codispoti, in his first season at Trinity, was an All-West Region Third Team selection after producing seven goals and five assists.
The SCAC men's soccer season begins on August 30th, with several teams competing in early season tournaments, while the first conference matches of the season are scheduled for Friday, October 2nd. The 2019 SCAC Men's Soccer Tournament will be held in November on the campus of Trinity University as quarterfinal matches will be contested on Friday the 8th, the semifinal matches on Saturday the 9th and the championship match being played Sunday the 10th.
2019 SCAC Men's Soccer Preseason Coaches' Poll
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| 1. | Trinity University (9) | 99 |
| 2. | Colorado College | 88 |
| 3. | Texas Lutheran University (1) | 78 |
| 4. | Southwestern University | 75 |
| 5. | Dallas | 54 |
| 6. | Austin College | 43 |
| 7. | University of St. Thomas | 39 |
| 8. | Johnson & Wales University (Denver) | 32 |
| 9. | Schreiner University | 25 |
| 10. | Centenary College | 17 |
