SUWANEE, Ga. - Following the fourth different league champion in as many years – a first in conference history – Trinity University has emerged as the preseason favorite based on balloting from league’s head coaches heading into the 2022 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference men’s soccer season.
The TU Tigers, who posted a 7-0-1 league record to secure the top-seed leading into last season’s SCAC Tournament before falling in the finals, earned eight of the nine first-place votes cast by league coaches to finish atop the poll with 80 points.
Trinity (16-1-2 overall; 7-0-1 SCAC), which begins the season ranked 13th in the United Soccer Coaches’ poll, returns five All-Conference performers from last year’s squad that posted the program’s highest season winning percentage since 2017. Offensively, the Tigers return 73 percent of its league-leading 60 goals from a season ago led by a pair of First Team All-SCAC performers in sophomore forward Michael Meese and sophomore midfielder Hunter Cain. Meese led the SCAC with 16 goals and 36 points last year, while Cain finished tied for fifth with eight goals and 23 total points. A pair of Second Team All-SCAC performers – senior Fraser Burns and sophomore Joseph Kuri – return to help bolster a Tiger offense that has led the conference in goals scored nine of the last 10 seasons. Burns and Kuri combined with Meese and Cain for 32 goals, 22 assists and 86 total points. Defensively, junior Jack Eubank returns after a sophomore performance that earned him Honorable Mention All-SCAC accolades and helped Trinity to a sub.-1.00 goals-against-average for the 23rd time in the last 24 seasons (0.92).
Trinity, which looks to return to the top of the conference mountain for the first time since 2018, enters the 2022 season under the direction of head coach Paul McGinlay for the 32nd consecutive season. In 31 seasons at the helm, McGinlay has complied an outstanding record of 531-87-34 (.840) with 24 NCAA Tournament appearances, 10 national quarterfinal appearances and the 2003 national championship.
On the heels of capturing the program’s first-ever SCAC Tournament title last season, the University of St. Thomas (12-2-4; 6-0-2) picked up the final first-place vote to finish second in the preseason poll with 70 points. The Celts welcome back five All-SCAC players led by First Team midfielder Ian Alvarez and Second Team forward and Newcomer-of-the-Year Daniel Castro. Castro led St. Thomas with 12 goals a year ago, third-best in the SCAC, while Alvarez finished with four goals, including two game-winners. Senior forward Gabe Salako returns after scoring six goals last year (tied for ninth in the SCAC), securing an All-SCAC Honorable Mention certificate. On the defensive side of the pitch, Second Team All-SCAC junior goalkeeper Rodrigo Lazo is back after corralling 59 saves and posting a 0.76 goals against average, fourth-best in the SCAC. Rounding out the returning All-SCAC Celts is senior defender Andres Marquez who earned Honorable Mention accolades. Ian Clerihew returns for his sixth season at the helm of the St. Thomas program after earning SCAC Coach-of-the-Year honors a season ago.
Colorado College (11-5-1; 5-2-1) rounds out the top three in the coaches’ poll after collecting 58 total points to finish third. The Tigers, excluding the shortened 2020-21 pandemic season, have reached the 10-win plateau in 10-straight seasons, dating to 2011. Led by head coach Scott Palguta, who last season moved into fifth all-time in SCAC history with 61 league victories and is second in conference history with a .783 SCAC win percentage, CC returns five All-SCAC performers from a year ago, headed by First Team honoree senior midfielder Sajji Singh. Singh finished tied for the league lead with 10 assists in and along with chipping in with three goals scored finished with 16 points, tied for ninth in the SCAC. Two-time Second Team All-SCAC defender, junior Alexander Ward, will anchor the Tiger defense that posted five shutouts in 2021.
Southwestern University (10-3-4; 5-1-2), which has dropped just one conference fixture in the last two seasons (the fewest of any program other than Trinity over that span), was the coaches’ fourth choice with 56 points in the preseason balloting. The Pirates welcome back three All-SCAC performers, including a pair of First Team honorees in senior goalkeeper Jack Viles and junior forward Skyler Frey. Viles, a First Team United Soccer Coaches All-American last season, posted 10 shutouts, registered 42 saves and carried an impressive 0.71 goals-against-average, while Frey led the Pirates with five goals and 13 points as a sophomore. Dustin Norman returns for his fifth season as the head coach of the Pirates. In his first four years at the helm, he has won 36 games and guided the Pirates to their first NCAA Tournament appearance and first undefeated season in program history.
Texas Lutheran University (8-6-1; 4-4-0) came in as the fifth choice in the preseason rankings with 47 points after narrowly missing out on the SCAC Tournament a season ago. The Bulldogs, who saw five underclassmen make starts in 10 or more fixtures last season, return four All-SCAC performers, highlighted by four-time SCAC Offensive-Player-of-the-Year, Luis Green. Historically, Green comes into his final season tied for first all-time in league history in goals scored per game (1.00), second in points per game (2.226), fourth in goals scored (62) and tied for fifth in points with 138. He is just 11 goals shy of tying Oglethorpe University’s Will Lukow’s record of 73 career goals (1991-94) and needs 30 points to tie Trinity’s Josh Card’s career record of 168 (1999-02). Head coach Eddie Salazar will enter his 17th season as the manager of the Bulldogs where he has amassed 120 victories.
University of Dallas (5-10-0; 2-6-0), looking to return to the SCAC Tournament for the first time since 2019, earned sixth position with 29 points, while Centenary College (6-11-1; 2-6-0), the 2020-21 SCAC Tournament Champions, was selected seventh with 28 points.
Rounding out the coaches’ selections was Austin College (2-14-0; 0-8-0) in eighth with 19 points and Schreiner University (3-14-1; 2-6-0) in ninth with 18 total points.
The SCAC men’s soccer season begins on Thursday, September 1, with several teams competing in early season tournaments over Labor Day weekend while the first conference matches of the year are scheduled for Friday, September 30. The 2022 SCAC Men’s Soccer Tournament will be held in November on the campus of the Austin College as semifinal matches will be contested on Friday the 4th and the championship match being played on Sunday the 6th.
2022 SCAC Men's Soccer Preseason Coaches' Poll
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| 1. | Trinity University (8) | 80 |
| 2. | University of St. Thomas (1) | 70 |
| 3. | Colorado College | 58 |
| 4. | Southwestern University | 56 |
| 5. | Texas Lutheran University | 47 |
| 6. | University of Dallas | 29 |
| 7. | Centenary College | 28 |
| 8. | Austin College | 19 |
| 9. | Schreiner University | 18 |
