Syracuse Men’s Soccer: Preseason polls have Orange highly ranked

Last year was one for the record books for the Syracuse Orange Men’s Soccer team. They reached the College Cup for the first time in program history. They brought home numerous honors, both in conference and nationally. They had two of their stars drafted in the first round of the MLS Entry Draft, one on a Generation Adidas contract.

The team finished last year ranked fourth in the country after going out on penalties to the Clemson Tigers in the national semifinals. You would think it would be hard to replicate that, but based on the preseason rankings* the Orange are going to be right back in the thick of it. I can’t say that I can argue with their placement either.

*Preseason rankings and polls are relatively worthless, but at least will set some expectations.

The NSCAA put out their preseason poll and placed the Orange in the number six slot. They join four other ACC programs in the top ten of the national poll. The aforementioned Clemson earned the number three spot, followed by Wake Forest at number five, Syracuse at six, then North Carolina at eight, and Notre Dame at nine.

It seems like this year could be an impressive one in the ACC. Boston College (11) and Virginia (17) round out the ACC in the Top 25. Of those teams, we’ll be hosting BC on September 16, UNC of September 30, and Wake Forest to end the season on October 28.

Internally, the ACC also put out their preseason polls. Normally being picked third in your division wouldn’t bode well, but the ACC is about as impressive this year as it’s ever been. As you know, the Atlantic Division boasts all three of Clemson, Wake, and Syracuse. This unfortunately means Syracuse landed third in the division, behind the number three and five teams in the country.

Overall some good news for the Orange as they look to continue their success and build upon last year’s 16-5-4 record. The Orange continue the preseason this Saturday, August 20th in Fort Wayne, Indiana against Ohio State University and open the regular season at home against UMass on Friday, August 26th at SU Soccer Stadium.