College Men’s Soccer News – Guilford Picked 10th in Preseason ODAC Poll

FOREST, Va. – Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) men’s soccer coaches picked Guilford College 10th in their annual preseason polls released Thursday. The Quakers earned 31 points in the 12-team ranking. Defending ODAC champion Washington and Lee University led the poll with 119 points and 10 first-place votes. Roanoke College earned one first-place nod and 104 points to rank second, while Randolph College tallied the remaining first-place vote and 98 points to round out the top three.

New Guilford head coach Cory Speed enters his first campaign on Guilford’s sideline and inherits 24 letter winners from last year’s 5-11-1 (2-8-1 ODAC) team. Among them are Mark Dandanell, Omar Solis, and Christian Torres, who each tallied six points last season to lead all returners. Dandanell and Torres found the back of the net three times apiece, while Solis led returning Quakers with two assists a year ago. Senior goalkeeper Eric Hayes started in each of Guilford’s 17 contests and tallied 91 saves and a .746 saves percentage.

The Quakers begin the 2016 campaign on September 4 at home against Piedmont College at 2:00 p.m. on Appenzeller Field at the Armfield Athletic Center.

2016 ODAC MEN’S SOCCER PRESEASON POLL (#) denotes first-place votes

1. Washington and Lee University (10) 119 pts,
2. Roanoke College (1)104 pts,
3. Randolph College (1) 98 pts,
4. Lynchburg College 94 pts,
5. Virginia Wesleyan College 83 pts,
6. Randolph-Macon College 76 pts,
7. Bridgewater College 59 pts,
8. Eastern Mennonite University 49 pts,
9. Hampden-Sydney College 34 pts,
10. Guilford College 31 pts,
11. Emory & Henry College 28 pts,
12. Shenandoah University 17 pts.