University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Named ACC Preseason Favorite
August 24, 2011 | Men's Soccer
Aug. 24, 2011
GREENSBORO, N.C. -
North Carolina is the preseason favorite to claim the 2011 Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Soccer Championship, according to a vote of the league's nine head coaches.
The Tar Heels, who have represented the ACC in the NCAA Men's College Cup each of the past three seasons, were listed first on seven coaches' ballots. Defending ACC champion Maryland received one first-place vote and placed second in the voting, while Virginia was picked to finish third.
Wake Forest was picked for a fourth-place finish, while Duke (one first-place vote) was projected fifth and Boston College sixth. Clemson, NC State and Virginia Tech rounded out the preseason voting.
The ACC is coming off a 2010 season that saw five teams receive NCAA Tournament berths and two teams - North Carolina and Maryland - place among the Final Eight. With UNC advancing to the NCAA semifinals, the ACC placed at least one team in the Men's College Cup for the 10th straight year. The ACC owns 14 NCAA Men's Soccer national titles, including four of the last six, and has appeared in the championship game on 21 occasions.
The ACC led all conferences with six teams ranked in the 2011 Soccer America Preseason Poll released earlier this week, including five among the top 13 (North Carolina No. 3, Maryland No. 8, Virginia No. 11, Duke No. 12 and Wake Forest No. 13). Boston College was ranked 23rd.
Five ACC teams were ranked among the 2011 NSCAA Preseason Top 25 released Aug. 9, led by UNC at No. 3 and Maryland at No. 4. Virginia was ranked 22nd, Duke 23rd and Boston College 25th.
The Tar Heels open regular season action on Saturday when they take on in-state foe UNC Wilmington at 7 p.m. at Fetzer Fied.
2011 Preseason ACC Men's Soccer Coaches' Poll
| Rank | School | Points (1st Place Votes) |
2010 Overall Record |
2010 ACC Record |
| 1. | North Carolina | 78 (7) | 16-4-4 | 7-0-1 |
| 2. | Maryland | 66 (1) | 19-3-1 | 6-1-1 |
| 3. | Virginia | 60 | 11-6-3 | 2-4-2 |
| 4. | Wake Forest | 52 | 8-9-2 | 4-3-1 |
| 5. | Duke | 48 (1) | 10-6-4 | 3-3-2 |
| 6. | Boston College | 44 | 10-5-5 | 2-2-4 |
| 7. | Clemson | 28 | 5-9-4 | 2-4-2 |
| 8. | NC State | 18 | 10-8-2 | 1-5-2 |
| 9. | Virginia Tech | 11 | 5-13-1 | 1-6-1 |
