August 27, 2008
Paladins Picked To Repeat As SoCon Soccer Regular Season Champions
Greenville, S.C. -- The 20th-ranked Furman men’s soccer team has been tabbed as preseason favorites for the 2008 Southern Conference regular season in voting by the league’s coaches, it was announced on Wednesday by
the SoCon office.
The Paladins received six first place votes among the league’s seven other head coaches and 47 total points to take the top spot ahead of second place UNC Greensboro, College of Charleston and Elon. Appalachian State,
Georgia Southern, Davidson and Wofford rounded out the bottom half of the eight-team poll.
Senior Patrick Murray, a preseason College Soccer News All-America second team pick, was selected to the preseason All-SoCon team. The Paladin midfielder registered a league-high 13 assists and tallied two goals on his way to All-SoCon, NSCAA All-South Region, and NSCAA Scholar All-American honors as a junior.
Furman returns six starters from a 2007 squad that posted a 19-4-0 record while claiming the Southern Conference regular season and tournament titles. Head coach Doug Allison’s team earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and downed first round foe Campbell at Stone Stadium before falling in the second round to eventual national champion Wake Forest.
The Paladins kicked off the 2008 season with a 1-0 exhibition loss at top-ranked Wake Forest on Saturday night. Furman begins regular season play on Sunday at 2 p.m. at UNC Wilmington.
2008 Men’s Soccer Preseason Coaches’ Poll
1. Furman (6) 47
2. UNC Greensboro (1) 40
3. College of Charleston (1) 38
4. Elon 34
5. Appalachian State 23
6. Georgia Southern 16
7. Davidson 15
8. Wofford 11
2008 Men’s Soccer Preseason All-Southern Conference Team
F - Kareem Yearwood, College of Charleston
F - Justin Wyatt, Elon
F - Nirav Kadam, UNC Greensboro
F - Jon Cox, Georgia Southern
MF - Patrick Murray, Furman
MF - Jokull Elisabetarson, UNC Greensboro
MF - Justin Fojo, College of Charleston
D - Wes Knight, College of Charleston
D - Steven Kinney, Elon
D - Paul Pessina, Appalachian State
GK - Clint Irwin, Elon
