Aug. 13, 2008

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Wake Forest men’s soccer program was named the 2008 Atlantic Coast Conference preseason favorite, as determined by a vote of the league’s nine head coaches.

The defending national champions finished the 2007 season with a 22-2-2 record, the best in program history, including a 13-0-1 record at home. The program, which topped the preseason national poll released Tuesday by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) and adidas, was ranked first on seven of the preseason league ballots.

Wake Forest returns 19 letterwinners and nine starters from last year’s team that captured its first national title in program history. The Deacs return 2007 Soccer America and NSCAA All-American Sam Cronin and Marcus Tracy, who was the Most Valuable Offensive Player of the 2007 College Cup. In addition, Wake Forest’s Jay Vidovich owns a 187-81-27 mark over 14 seasons and has never had a losing season as head coach.

Maryland and Boston College wrap up the top three selections as Maryland, which made its 25th trip to the 2007 NCAA Men’s Soccer Tournament, advancing to the third round, picked up 62 points in the league’s preseason tally. The Terrapins will look to returning senior midfielder Graham Zusi and junior defender Omar Gonzalez, who anchored a back line that allowed just 20 goals and had six shutouts last season.

Defending regular-season and tournament champion Boston College registered 60 points in the balloting in addition to tallying two first-place votes. The Eagles return 15 letterwinners and nine starters, including 2007 NSCAA first-team All-American Alejandro Bedoya, to the 2008 squad. Boston College was the only program in the country to beat preseason favorite Wake Forest in 2007.

Completing the preseason poll in order of projected finish are North Carolina (51), Virginia Tech (45), Virginia (43), Duke (27), Clemson (24), and NC State (14). Below is a listing of the preseason coaches’ poll with the programs’ respective 2007 records.

2008 Preseason ACC Men’s Soccer Poll
	School (first-place votes)	Points	2007 Record
1.	Wake Forest (7)	79	22-2-2 (6-1-1 ACC)
2.	Maryland	62	10-6-5 (4-3-1 ACC)
3.	Boston College (2)	60	15-5-1 (7-1-0 ACC)
4.	North Carolina	51	7-8-5 (3-5-0 ACC)
5.	Virginia Tech	45	14-4-5 (3-1-4 ACC)
6.	Virginia	43	12-8-2 (1-5-2 ACC)
7.	Duke	27	11-8-1 (4-3-1 ACC)
8.	Clemson	24	7-11-1 (2-6-0 ACC)
9.	NC State	14	6-9-3 (1-6-1 ACC)