Sun Belt Conference Releases Preseason Poll
8/15/2022 2:00:00 PM | Men's Soccer
Eagles tabbed for ninth in re-formed SBC
This is the 20th season of Sun Belt Conference Men's Soccer, while also being the beginning of the third incarnation of the conference. The first iteration of Sun Belt men's soccer was around from 1985 to 1994, when it then took a 20-year haitus until 2014, when GS and App State moved to the SBC. Joined by Hartwick, Howard, Georgia State, and NJIT, the SBC played until 2020 with changing membership, such as the additions of Coastal Carolina (2016) and Central Arkansas (2019), and the losses of NJIT (2016), Hartwick (2017), and Howard (2020). The new-look SBC currently sports the most members its ever had, and has a tenth member in UCF joining in 2023.
The Sun Belt looks to immediately become one of the top conferences in collegiate soccer, with three teams ranked in the top 15 of the preseason polls (#6 West Virginia, #8 Kentucky, #14 Marshall), which is the second-most behind the ACC's five.
The Eagles open up the regular season on August 25 on the road against the Presbyterian Blue Hose. Georgia Southern's home opener will be on September 4 against Charlotte. All matches at Eagle Field are free to attend.
2022 Sun Belt Conference Men's Soccer Preseason Awards
Preseason Offensive Player of the Year
Eythor Bjorgolfsson, Kentucky (Sr., F – Jessheim, Norway)
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year
Luis Grassow, Kentucky (Sr., D – Munich, Germany)
2022 Men's Soccer Preseason All-Sun Belt Team*
Alvaro Garcia-Pascual, Coastal Carolina (So., F – Benalmadena, Spain)
Luca Erhardt, James Madison (RS Sr., F – Offenbach, Germany)
Eythor Bjorgolfsson, Kentucky (Sr., F – Jessheim, Norway)
Milo Yosef, Marshall (RS Sr., F – Aachen, Germany)
Ross Finnie, Georgia State (Sr., M – Carnoustie, Scotland)
Rodrigo Robles, James Madison (RS Jr., M – Burgos, Spain)
Vinicius Fernandes, Marshall (Gr., M – Sao Paulo, Brazil)
Luis Grassow, Kentucky (Sr., D – Munich, Germany)
Robert Screen, Kentucky (5th Yr., D – Raleigh, N.C.)
Gabriel Alves, Marshall (Jr., D – Sao Paulo, Brazil)
Bjarne Thiesen, West Virginia (RS Jr., D – Kiel, Germany)
Oliver Semmle, Marshall (Gr., GK – Au Am Rhein, Germany)
* Team Expanded Due to Ties in Voting
2022 Sun Belt Conference Men's Soccer Preseason Coaches Poll
1. West Virginia - 75 (5)
2. Marshall - 72 (3)
3. Kentucky - 69 (1)
4. South Carolina - 41
T5. Coastal Carolina - 39
T5. James Madison - 39
7. Georgia State - 35
8. Old Dominion - 20
9. Georgia Southern - 15
