Saint Joseph's of Maine Selected Atop 2017 GNAC Men's Soccer Preseason Poll

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Monks garner all
but one first-place vote

WINTHROP, Mass. – Fresh off an NCAA Division III Tournament appearance last fall in which it advanced past Babson in a first-round contest, Saint Joseph's College of Maine has received 10 of a possible 11 first-place votes to take home the top spot in the 2017 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Men's Soccer Preseason Poll, as voted upon by the league's head coaches.

Last season, the Monks posted a 15-2-6 overall record and 8-0-1 GNAC mark in GNAC play to earn the top seed in the GNAC Tournament, eventually taking down Norwich University in the title game on penalty kicks. Saint Joseph's returns all four of its GNAC First Team All-Conference selections from a year ago.

Also in 2016, SJC set new team records for most wins, fewest losses, most ties, highest winning percentage, longest winning streak (8), longest undefeated streak (20), shutouts (16), consecutive shutouts (8) and goals-against average (0.41).

Norwich finished second in the poll with 105 points and the remaining first-place vote, followed by Johnson & Wales University in third with 103 points, Suffolk University in the fourth spot with 86 points and Albertus Magnus College rounding out the top-five with 74 points.

In order, Emmanuel College, Regis (Mass.), Mount Ida College, Rivier University, Anna Maria College and Lasell College made up the remainder of the ledger.

Non-conference regular-season action kicks off next Friday, September 1, with the first GNAC play date falling on Saturday, September 9.

Some Information Provided by SJC Athletics Communications.

2017 GNAC Men's Soccer Preseason Poll
1. Saint Joseph's of Maine (10) - 119
2. Norwich (1) - 105
3. Johnson & Wales - 103
4. Suffolk - 86 
5. Albertus Magnus - 74
6. Emmanuel - 60
7. Regis (Mass.) - 59
8. Mount Ida - 46 
9. Rivier - 37
10. Anna Maria - 21
11. Lasell – 16

Having received ? of a possible 11 first-place votes, the @sjc_mens_soccer team begins the 2017 campaign as #TheGNAC preseason favorite when the season kicks off September 1st! ?? visit thegnac.com for the full results! #preseasonpoll #soccer #d3soc #ncaad3

A post shared by Great Northeast Athletic Conf. (@the_gnac) on Aug 22, 2017 at 10:13am PDT

Founded in 1995, the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 13 member institutions and nearly 4,000 student-athletes across the New England region. Each year, the GNAC sponsors and administers 20 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunities and community involvement. 

– #TheGNAC –