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July 24, 2002

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The University of Virginia Cavaliers, the 2001 ACC regular-season champions, have been selected as the favorite for the upcoming 2002 ACC men’s soccer season, as determined by a vote of the leagues seven head coaches. Virginia was picked to finish first in the conference after gathering 45 points in the 2002 ACC Coaches Men’s Soccer Preseason Poll. UVa edged-out the North Carolina Tar Heels for the top spot in the poll after UNC finished second with 43 points.

The Cavaliers finished the 2001 campaign with a record of 17-2-1 overall, including a 6-0 mark in the ACC and competed in the NCAA Championship for the 21st consecutive year. With its perfect record in the conference last season, Virginia became the first school in ACC history to win all of its conference games by shutout after outscoring its conferences foes 11-0 through six contests. UVa returns 14 letterwinners and seven starters from last season’s team and is primed for another championship run in 2002.

Second place finisher North Carolina (21-4 overall, 4-2 in the ACC last season) ended last year on a five-game winning streak and won the program’s first ever NCAA men’s soccer national title. Placing third in the poll was the Clemson Tigers with 36 points. Clemson was the 2001 ACC Tournament Champion and finished 19-5 overall, 4-2 in the conference last season.

Rounding out the pre-season poll in order of finish is: the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in fourth place with 26 points, the Maryland Terrapins in fifth place with 22, the Duke Blue Devils in sixth place with 17 points and finally the N.C. State Wolfpack in seventh place with seven points.

The ACC is considered by many to be one of the top soccer conferences in the nation, and ACC schools have won 10 national championships in men’s soccer over the last 18 years. Below is a listing of the preseason coaches’ poll with 2001 records and regular season finishes.

Virginia will kick-off its 2002 regular season when the Cavaliers face the Kentucky Wildcats on Friday, August 30th at 7:30 p.m. in Kl?ckner Stadium.

2002 ACC COACHES MEN’S SOCCER PRE-SEASON POLL

Rank	School			Points		2001 Record/Finish1. 	Virginia		45		17-2-1, 6-0 ACC/1st2. 	North Carolina		43		21-4, 4-2 ACC/2nd3. 	Clemson			36		19-5, 4-2 ACC/3rd4. 	Wake Forest		26		13-6-2, 3-2-1 ACC/4th5. 	Maryland		22		11-9-1, 1-4-1 ACC/6th6. 	Duke			17		8-10-1, 2-4 ACC/5th7. 	NC State		7		4-15, 0-6 ACC/7th

— UVa —

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