University of North Carolina Athletics
Men's Soccer Ranked No. 5 in NSCAA Preseason Poll
August 15, 2001 | Men's Soccer
Aug. 15, 2001
CHAPEL HILL, N.C.--The University of North Carolina men's soccer team is ranked fifth in the nation in the 2001 National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll, released on Wednesday afternoon. Carolina is the highest-ranked team in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Other ACC teams in the 2001 NSCAA preseason poll include No. 7 Virginia, No. 8 Clemson and No. 13 Duke.
The rest of the top 10 is as follows: No. 1 Connecticut, No. 2 Creighton, No. 3 Southern Methodist, No. 4 Indiana, No. 6 Stanford, No. 9 Brown and No. 10 San Diego.
The Tar Heels were the No. 1 team in the NSCAA poll for the second half of last season and finished No. 5 in the final poll. They entered the 2000 NCAA Tournament as the top overall seed and reached the quarterfinals before losing to two-time defending national champion Indiana.
"Last year helped the confidence of all the players who were on the team," UNC head coach Elmar Bolowich says. "I think the guys will be hungry to repeat what we accomplished, establish ourselves at the top of the college soccer world and battle for the ACC and NCAA championships."
Carolina returns six starters from last year's squad. Sophomore midfielder Logan Pause, who would have been the team's leading returning scorer, will miss the 2001 season after undergoing knee surgery.
The team's strength will be its defense, led by seniors Danny Jackson, Chris Leitch and Michael Ueltschey and sophomore David Stokes. The Tar Heels lost 78 percent of their goals and 56 percent of their assists from last season.
