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College men: 2015 conference preseason polls, honors

08/29/2015, 12:30am CDT
By ERIC ANDERSON
UW-Milwaukee logo

Horizon League men's soccer coaches had a tough time predicting the conference favorite this season, as four teams received first-place votes in their annual preseason poll – including UW-Milwaukee.

The Panthers, who were 6-10-3 overall and finished sixth in the Horizon with a 3-3-2 record last fall, were picked fourth in the preseason poll. Milwaukee senior midfielder Declan Rodriguez and sophomore forward Nick Moon (Waukesha West) were among the conference players to watch.

UW-Green Bay junior midfielder Audi Jepson (Green Bay Preble) and senior midfielder Jordan Dover also were named players to watch. The Phoenix, in their first season under coach Jeremy Bonomo, were tabbed ninth in the 10-team league.

Place Team 1st-place votes
1 Oakland 5
2 Valparaiso 2
3 Wright State 2
4 UW-Milwaukee 1
5 Detroit
6 Cleveland State
7 Illinois-Chicago
8 Northern Kentucky
9 UW-Green Bay
10 Belmont

BIG EAST CONFERENCE

Conference coaches project Marquette to finish fifth in the 10-team league, one spot better than the Golden Eagles (8-6-4, 2-3-4) fared last fall. Marquette senior striker C. Nortey and junior midfielder Louis Bennett II (Shorewood) made the Preseason All-Big East team after earning first-team all-conference honors and all-region awards from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America in 2014.

Place Team 1st-place votes Points
1 Creighton 5 77
2 Georgetown 5 77
3 Providence 65
4 Xavier 55
5 Marquette 50
6 St. John's 36
7 Butler 33
8 Villanova 29
9 Seton Hall 19
10 DePaul 9

BIG TEN CONFERENCE

University of Wisconsin senior midfielder Drew Conner, sophomore forward Tom Barlow and freshman defender Sam Brotherton – a New Zealand youth international – were named to the preseason players to watch list. Conference coaches picked the Badgers (3-12-3 overall, 0-7-1 Big Ten in 2014) to finish last in the nine-team league, where they finished last season.

Place Team
1 Maryland
2 Indiana
3 Penn State
4 Michigan State
5 Ohio State
6 Northwestern
7 Michigan
8 Rutgers
9 Wisconsin

GREAT LAKES VALLEY CONFERENCE

Place Team 1st-place votes Points
1 Indianapolis 6 206
2 Quincy (Ill.) 8 203
3 Rockhurst (Mo.) 194
4 Drury (Mo.) 2 188
5 Lewis (Ill.) 178
6 Missouri-St. Louis 161
7 Bellarmine (Ky.) 142
8 Missouri S&T 113
9 Southern Indiana 107
10 UW-Parkside 92
11 Truman State (Mo.) 90
12 McKendree (Mo.) 82
13 Maryville (Mo.) 52
14 Illinois-Springfield 51
15 William Jewell (Mo.) 40
16 St. Joseph's (Ind.) 21

NORTHERN ATHLETICS COLLEGIATE CONFERENCE

Milwaukee School of Engineering, which shared the regular-season title with Dominican (Ill.) and became the first team other than the Stars to win the conference tournament last fall, was picked as the preseason favorite by NACC coaches and sports information directors.

Place Team 1st-place votes Points
1 Milwaukee School of Engineering 12 231
2 Dominican (Ill.) 10 229
3 Benedictine (Ill.) 193
4 Aurora (Ill.) 169
5 Concordia (Wis.) 160
6 Edgewood College 120
7 Wisconsin Lutheran 107
8 Concordia (Ill.) 87
9 Marian 76
10 Lakeland 53
11 Rockford (Ill.) 27

MIDWEST CONFERENCE

Place Team 1st-place votes Points
1 Knox (Ill.) 3 81
2 Carroll 3 79
3 St. Norbert 3 76
4 Lake Forest (Ill.) 1 73
5 Grinnell (Iowa) 52
6 Monmouth (Ill.) 51
7 Illinois College 48
8 Lawrence 36
9 Beloit College 22
10 Cornell (Iowa) 19
11 Ripon 9

COLLEGE CONFERENCE OF ILLINOIS AND WISCONSIN

Place Team 1st-place votes Points
1 Wheaton (Ill.) 6 48
2 North Park (Ill.) 3 44
3 Elmhurst (Ill.) 35
4 Carthage 29
5 North Central (Ill.) 25
6 Millikin (Ill.) 20
7 Illinois Wesleyan 12
8 Augustana (Ill.) 11

UPPER MIDWEST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

Place Team 1st-place votes Points
1 St. Scholastica (Minn.) 7 63
2 UW-Superior 1 55
3 Minnesota-Morris 1 52
4 Northwestern (Minn.) 44
5 Crown (Minn.) 34
6 Bethany Lutheran (Minn.) 31
7 Martin Luther (Minn.) 22
8 North Central (Minn.) 12
9 Northland 11

NORTH STAR ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION

Place Team 1st-place votes Points
1 Bellevue (Neb.) 4 16
2 Jamestown (N.D.) 1 13
3 Waldorf (Iowa) 9
4 Presentation (S.D.) 7
5 Viterbo 5

Note: The Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference, which includes Cardinal Stritch, doesn't conduct a preseason conference poll.

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