July 23, 2003

Winston-Salem, N.C. -- The Wake Forest men's soccer team is ranked fourth in the preseason, according to College Soccer News. The Deacons return ten starters from last year's 15-2-4 team that completed an undefeated regular season and was ranked number one for six weeks.

Among those ten starters are two senior All-Americans, goalkeeper William Hesmer and forward Jeremiah White, and two additional All-ACC selections including sophomore defender Michael Parkhurst and the reigning ACC Rookie of the Year, midfielder Justin Moose.

Wake Forest, led by 2002 ACC Coach of the Year Jay Vidovich, will open its regular season with the Wake Forest adidas Classic at Spry Stadium, a round-robin event that features perennial national powers Connecticut, St. John's and North Carolina. The Huskies and Red Storm are both ranked in the top 15.

Maryland is the publication's preseason number one. The Terrapins are followed by defending national champion UCLA, St. John's, Wake Forest and Stanford in the top five. SMU, Penn State, Creighton, Furman and Indiana round out the top ten.

Other Atlantic Coast Conference schools in the top 30 include Clemson (13), Virginia (21) and Duke (24).

The College Soccer News Preseason Top 30:

1. Maryland

2. UCLA

3. St. John's

4. Wake Forest

5. Stanford

6. SMU

7. Penn State

8. Creighton

9. Furman

10. Indiana

11. Wisconsin-Milwaukee

12. Notre Dame

13. Clemson

14. Boston College

15. Connecticut

16. St. Louis

17. Pennsylvania

18. California

19. UC-Santa Barbara

20. New Mexico

21. Virginia

22. Coastal Carolina

23. Washington

24. Duke

25. Portland

26. Northeastern

27. San Diego

28. UAB

29. Michigan

30. Bradley