Men's Soccer Picked Second In ACC Coastal

CHAPEL HILL—The Atlantic Coast Conference has released its 2021 preseason men's soccer poll, and the league's coaches have picked the University of North Carolina to finish second in the Coastal Division.

Tar Heel graduate student goalkeeper Alec Smir also grabbed a spot on the ACC's 2021 Preseason Watch List.

The ACC's coaches predicted Pitt to win both the Coastal Division and the overall championship. The Panthers picked up nine first-place votes for the divisional title and 64 overall points to UNC's three votes and 58 points. Virginia Tech was third with 40 points.

Clemson was picked to finish first in the Atlantic Division, edging second-place Wake Forest. The Tigers finished second behind PItt with three votes as the overall champion, while Carolina was third with two.

The Tar Heels went 9-5-4 overall, finished second in the Coastal Division behind Pitt and advanced to the NCAA College Cup semifinals in 2020. UNC returns nine of 11 starters from that group, including Smir, who led the conference in shutouts last year.

Ranked No. 4 in the preseason coaches poll, Carolina tied top-ranked defending NCAA champion Marshall, 1-1, last Sunday night in a scrimmage in Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels will travel to scrimmage at Liberty on Friday night, then open the regular season at home on August 26 against Bucknell.

ACC men's soccer returns to its traditional league format this season, with each team playing eight conference matches. Each squad will play its five division foes as well as three sides from the other division.

The ACC topped all leagues with five men's soccer programs among the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Top 25. Four ACC teams are ranked in the top 10 in the poll, while five are among the top 15: Pitt (3), Carolina (4), Clemson (6), Wake Forest (7) and Virginia Tech (15).

2021 ACC Men's Soccer Preseason Coaches' Poll
Overall Champion
Pitt, 7 votes
Clemson, 3
North Carolina, 2

Atlantic Division
1. Clemson (9), 64
2. Wake Forest (2), 57
3. Louisville, 38
4. Boston College (1), 36
5. NC State, 27
6. Syracuse, 24

Coastal Division
1. Pitt (9), 64
2. North Carolina (3), 58
3. Virginia Tech, 40
4. Virginia, 32
5. Duke, 28
6. Notre Dame, 24

First-place votes in parentheses

2021 ACC Preseason Watch List
Victor Souza, Jr., D, Boston College
Oskar Ågren, Jr., D, Clemson
Peter Stroud, So., M, Duke
Pedro Fonseca, Sr., F, Louisville
Alec Smir, Gr., GK, North Carolina
Leon Krapf, R-Sr., GK, NC State
Jack Lynn, Sr., F, Notre Dame
Valentin Noel, Jr., M, Pitt
Deandre Kerr, So., F, Syracuse
Andreas Ueland, Jr., D, Virginia
Sivert Haugli, Sr., D, Virginia Tech
Kyle Holcomb, Sr., F, Wake Forest

Players Mentioned

Alec Smir

Related Videos