Virginia Men's Soccer Tabbed #5 in the 2002 NSCAA/adidas Preseason Poll

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Aug. 23, 2002

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The University of Virginia men’s soccer team was ranked #5 in the 2002 NSCAA/adidas? preseason national rankings for NCAA Division I Men, as announced by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). The Indiana Hoosiers, the 2001 national runner-up, were ranked preseason #1, followed by the the Stanford Cardinal at #2, the St. John’s Red Storm at #3, the 2001 National Champion North Carolina Tar Heels at #4 and the Virginia Cavaliers at #5.

The Connecticut Huskies were listed at #6, followed by the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at #7, the Southern Methodist Mustangs at #8, the Clemson Tigers at #9 and the Maryland Terrapins fell in at #10 to round out the top ten teams in the poll.

Virginia is one of four schools from the Atlantic Coast Conference that appeared in the top ten spots of the poll (North Carolina #4, Virginia #5, Clemson #9, Maryland #10). The ACC also had five teams listed in the top 25 rankings with the Wake Forest Demon Deacons coming in at #24.

UVa was the only team from the Commonwealth of Virginia to appear in the preseason poll. Last season, three schools from the state were ranked in the preseason Top 25 (Virginia, James Madison and William & Mary).

Virginia is scheduled to play six teams ranked in the preseason poll during the 2002 regular season. Aside from facing off against its ranked conference foes (North Carolina, Clemson, Maryland and Wake Forest), Virginia will also battle the #17 Penn State Nittany Lions and the #20 Kentucky Wildcats. UVa will also face #1 Indiana on Sunday, August 25th in a preseason exhibition contest in Fort Wayne, Indiana as part of the 2002 IPFW Soccer Showcase.

Virginia returns seven starters and 14 letterwinners from last year’s team that finished 17-2-1 overall, 6-0-0 in the ACC. Last season, UVa became the first school in ACC history to win all of its conference games by shutout and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Championship. Virginia was ranked #7 in the NSCAA/adidas preseason poll in 2001.

Here is a look at the 2002 NSCAA/adidas? preseason national rankings:

Rank	Team1.	Indiana2.	Stanford3. St. John's4.	North Carolina5.	VIRGINIA6.	Connecticut7.	Rutgers8.	Southern Methodist9.	Clemson10.	Maryland11.	Saint Louis12.	Washington13.	UCLA14.	Fairleigh Dickinson15.	Alabama-Birmingham16.	South Carolina17.	Penn State18.	Boston College19.	Creighton20.	Kentucky21.	Furman22.	Loyola (Md.)23.	Syracuset-24.	San Diegot-24.	Wake Forest

— UVa —