UNCG ranked No. 18 in College Soccer News' preseason poll

GREENSBORO, NC – Looking to defend its Southern Conference championship and return to the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive season, UNC Greensboro is ranked No. 18 in the College Soccer News Preseason Top 30 poll.

UNCG, the only Southern Conference team to appear in CSN’s pre-season rankings, finished last season with a 16-6-1 mark overall, 5-1-0 in conference play. The Spartans shared the Southern Conference regular season title, their second straight regular season crown, and won the SoCon Tournament title. UNCG advanced to the NCAA Tournament’s third round for the second straight season, defeating James Madison and Virginia Tech. Both the Dukes and Hoakies are rated in CSN’s pre-season poll, as well.

The Spartans graduated five seniors from last year’s squad, including four starters, but return their top two scorers in All-Americans Randi Patterson and Scott Jones. UNCG’s incoming class was rated the 13th best recruiting class in the country earlier this week by CSN, its highest ranking and marking the fourth straight year it received a Top 40 ranking.

Defending national champion Maryland is atop the pre-season rankings. SMU, which eliminated UNCG in the third round of the NCAA Tourney last season, was ranked No. 2, followed by North Carolina, Connecticut and Penn State.

UNCG will face three teams during the regular season that are ranked in CSN’s pre-season poll and all three of those meetings will be on the road. The Spartans travel to Old Dominion and will face the 20th-ranked Monarchs in the second game of the ODU Tournament on Sept. 17 at 2:30 pm. UNCG also travels to face No. 19 Wake Forest on Oct. 18 and seventh-ranked Akron on Oct. 24 in an intriguing non-conference clash. Much the same way UNCG was ranked No. 1 and was the last unbeaten in 2004, Akron was the “Cinderella” No. 1 last season and was the final team to lose its perfect record. The match will be the regular season finale for UNCG and could have major NCAA Tournament ramifications for both squads at that point of the season.

UNCG will face another ranked team during its exhibition season. The Spartans take on No. 12 Duke at UNCG Soccer Stadium in an exhibition match on Aug. 16.

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College Soccer News Pre-season Top 30
1. Maryland
2. SMU
3. North Carolina
4. Connecticut
5. Penn State
6. Virginia
7. Akron
8. UCLA
9. New Mexico
10. Creighton
11. South Florida
12. Duke
13. Indiana
14. California
15. Clemson
16. Notre Dame
17. St. John’s
18. UNC Greensboro
19. Wake Forest
20. Old Dominion
21. UC Santa Barbara
22. San Francisco
23. Cal State Northridge
24. San Diego State
25. Virginia Tech
26. Santa Clara
27. St. Louis
28. Wisconsin-Milwaukee
29. South Carolina
30. Ohio State

- UNCG -