Virginia Men's Soccer Tabbed Third in ACC Coaches' Preseason Poll

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Aug. 12, 1999

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The University of Virginia men’s soccer teamis expected to finish third in the 1999 Atlantic Coast Conference soccerseason, according to a pre-season poll voted upon by all seven of the ACChead soccer coaches.

Clemson was selected as the 1999 ACC pre-season favorite aftergathering 40 points in the poll. The Tigers are coming off a stellar ’98campaign where they finished 22-2 overall, 5-1 in the conference. Clemsonfinished two points ahead of second place Maryland. The Terrapinscollected 38 points and begin the season on the heels of a 16-8 (3-3 ACC)outing last year. Maryland advanced to the National Semifinals of the 1998NCAA Tournament before falling 1-0 to Stanford.

Virginia collected 35 points, good for third place in the poll.The Cavaliers return 12 letterwinners and five starters back from lastseason’s 16-4-3 squad. UVa finished second in the ACC with a record of4-1-1. Expectations and hopes are running high once again inCharlottesville as Virginia looks to climb atop the ACC. UVa also gathereda sixth place ranking from the National Soccer Coaches Association ofAmerica (NSCAA) and will open the ’99 season by playing host to Seton Hallin the Coca-Cola Classic Tournament.

Duke (27 points) and Wake Forest (24 points) finished fourth andfifth, respectively. The Blue Devils ended their ’98 season with a mark of18-4 overall, 4-2 in the ACC and the Demon Deacons posted a record of10-7-1 overall, 1-4-1 in the conference. North Carolina gathered 23 pointsto place sixth and N.C. State rounded out the poll in the seventh slot withnine points.

Four teams from the ACC earned pre-season rankings from the NSCAA.Maryland was selected number three in the country and was joined by Clemson(fourth), Virginia (sixth) and Duke (12th) as conference members chosen inthe NSCAA Top 25 poll.

1999 Pre-Season ACC Men’s Soccer Poll

Rank  School         Points    1998 Record/Finish1.    Clemson          40      22-2, 5-1 ACC/1st2.    Maryland         38      16-8, 3-3 ACC/T4th3.    VIRGINIA         35      16-4-3, 4-1-1 ACC/2nd4.    Duke             27      18-4, 4-2 ACC/3rd5.    Wake Forest      24      10-7-1, 1-4-1 ACC/6th6.    North Carolina   23      11-6-2, 3-3 ACC/T4th7.    N.C. State        9      5-13, 0-6 ACC/7th