2008 Woodie Awards
A-10 Men's Soccer: Notebook
Preseason coaches poll ranks top Atlantic 10 teams for '08
Holly J. Galvin, Collegian Correspondent
Issue date: 9/9/08 Section: Sports
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Here's a look at the teams - in order of the annual A-10 preseason coach's poll rankings - that UMass will be pitted against:
1. Saint Louis (2007 record: 12-2-5, 8-0-1 A-10)
Although UMass' preseason rating slightly outranks that of No. 19 St. Louis, the A-10 coaches' poll tabbed SLU as the early favorite to capture a fourth-straight regular season title.
Armed with the conference's 2007 Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year - Kyle Patterson and Calum Angus - the Billikens look to maintain the dominance that has landed their program a record 44 NCAA tournament appearances.
SLU returns with the vast majority of its offensive corps, along with goalkeeping depth in senior Pat Disbennett and junior Ross Kaufman. After Disbennett suffered an surgery-inducing, facial injury last fall, Kaufman seamlessly took the reigns, posting a 10-2-2 record with six shutouts and a 0.66 goals-against average.
Despite Kaufman's success, eight-year coach Dan Donnigan switched back to Disbennett for postseason play. The veteran handled both of SLU's double-overtime A-10 playoff shutouts, as well as NCAA tournament duties.
Saint Louis will rely on All-American Angus to once again anchor a defense that allowed a league-low 13 goals last fall.
On the offensive end, midfielder Kyle Patterson heads an attack that posted a near perfect conference record in 2007. The explosive Billikens were shutout twice during the 2007 campaign, once by UMass in a 1-0 home loss. In fact, UMass has been the only A-10 team to hand the Billikens a conference loss in the past two seasons.
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