Conference

Somerset, NJ – On the heels of its seventh straight Northeast Conference Men’s Soccer Regular Season Championship, the Monmouth Hawks have been predicted to make it eight straight this upcoming season, taking the top spot in the 2012 NEC Preseason Coaches’ Poll.
 

2012 Northeast Conference Men’s Soccer Preseason Coaches’ Poll 1.    Monmouth (7) 2.    Fairleigh Dickinson (2) 3.    Saint Francis (PA) (1) 4.    Sacred Heart (1) 5.    St. Francis (NY) 6.    Mount St. Mary's 7.    Central Connecticut 8.    Quinnipiac 9.    LIU Brooklyn 10.  Robert Morris 11.  Bryant First place votes in parentheses ( )

The Hawks, who also won their third consecutive NEC Tournament Title and earned the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament in 2011, claimed seven first-place votes to best Garden State rival Fairleigh Dickinson, which earned two first-place nods to finish second in the voting. Saint Francis (PA) and Sacred Heart both were placed first in one poll each and finished third and fourth, respectively. St. Francis (NY) rounded out the top-5.
 
Mount St. Mary’s, Central Connecticut and Quinnipiac occupied spots 6-8, while LIU Brooklyn, Robert Morris and Bryant completed the 11-team preseason prediction.
 
Under the direction of ninth-year head coach Robert McCourt, Monmouth will look to make NEC history this season. Claiming their seventh straight regular season title in 2011, MU joined the Mount St. Mary’s women’s basketball program that ran the table from 1989 to 1996 as the only schools to win at least seven straight, and now have a shot at becoming the first to make it eight in a row.
 
A chance at making history should be looking good for McCourt and his team – they return six starters from last year’s team that went 14-6-2 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Of those six, senior midfielder Ryan Clark (Freehold, NJ/Freehold Township) will be the straw that stirs the drink on offense. The 2012 MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List selection led the team in points on the strength of three goals and a league-best eight assists, figures that earned him a spot on the All-NEC First Team. Senior goalkeeper Alex Blackburn (Natick, MA/Natick) will anchor the defense after posting a 14-6-2 record with a league-leading 0.61 goals against average in 22 games played.
 
Since 2005, McCourt’s Monmouth teams have combined for a 47-7-12 regular-season record against NEC competition during the regular season.
 
2012 Storylines
 
Battle for the Garden State: In one of the most exciting NEC Title games in recent memory, Monmouth and Fairleigh Dickinson will meet for the rematch on Oct. 5 in West Long Branch, NJ. The two teams went down to the wire last November, with the Hawks prevailing 2-1 on a double-overtime goal with just 20 seconds remaining.
 
Watching Some of the Best: Four players from the Northeast Conference were named to the 2012 MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List. The MAC Herman Trophy is the highest individual award in intercollegiate soccer presented annually in January during a banquet at the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis. Ryan Clark of Monmouth, Marcello Castro of Sacred Heart, James Price of Saint Francis (PA) and Reece Wilson of Central Connecticut will all be vying for the top honor in college soccer.
 
11 Strong: With Bryant’s reclassification complete, there will be 11 teams vying for one of four spots in the 2012 NEC Men’s Soccer Tournament this season.
 
Nationally Recognized: The Monmouth Hawks are back in the national spotlight. With just a week to go before the start of the season, MU found itself back in the national rankings, earning votes in the preseason rendition of the NSCAA/Continental Tire Division I Poll. The Hawks are one of 13 teams earning votes.
 
Team-By-Team Breakdown

Bryant (2-13-1, 1-9-0 NEC)
After completing its five-year reclassification process, the Bryant Bulldogs enter the 2012 season as full Division I members and eligible for the NEC Men’s Soccer Tournament.
 
Player to Watch: After graduating their top-scoring threat in Nicholas Parisi, the Bulldogs will look to senior midfielder Ryan Stone (Wakefield, RI/South Kingston) to make up for some of that lost production. Stone ranked second on the team in scoring, tickling the twine twice while adding an assist for five points.
 
Central Connecticut (10-8-1, 7-3-0 NEC)
A year after winning a share of the NEC Regular Season Title, head coach Shaun Green and his Blue Devils will look to defend their trophy. It marked just the second time in program history that CCSU captured the title, joining the 2007 squad that made a run in the NCAA Tournament.

*CCSU is ineligible for the 2012 NEC Men’s Soccer Tournament.
 
Player to Watch: Senior midfielder Thomas Obasi (Birmingham, England/Liverpool) proved to be a terrific two-way player for coach Green and his team’s return to the postseason in 2011. The 6-3 transfer scored three goals, including two game-winners, and ranked in the top-10 in league scoring with eight points, earning him a spot on the All-NEC First Team.
 
Fairleigh Dickinson (11-5-3, 6-2-2 NEC)
Head coach Seth Roland should be pretty optimistic about his team this season. After dropping a double-overtime heartbreaker to Monmouth in last year’s NEC Championship game, the Knights return nearly everyone who was instrumental in setting up that Garden State matchup.
 
Player to Watch: Following a solid, two-year career at NJIT, senior forward Jack McVey (Douglas, Isle of Man/St. Ninian’s High School) made the short trek to Teaneck, NJ and had an immediate impact on the 2011 Knights. The Douglas, Isle of Man product peppered NEC netminders with seven goals and totaled 18 points – both top-5 figures in the league - en route to All-NEC First Team honors.
 
LIU Brooklyn (5-10-3, 3-6-1 NEC)
The Blackbirds will rely on youth this season after losing their top-3 scorers and starting goalkeeper from last year’s team.
 
Player to Watch: Senior Jakeem Johnson (Montclair, NJ/Upper Montclair) returns as the team’s leading scorer this season. In 18 games a season ago, he found the back of the net three times, once with the game-winner, and handed out two assists.
 
Mount St. Mary’s (8-7-2, 5-4-1 NEC)
Following a one-game improvement from 2010 to 2011, the Mount will look to continue the trend in 2012.
 
Player to Watch: Sophomore Zoncher Dennis (Swarthmore, PA/Strath Haven) took the NEC by storm last season. The 2011 NEC Rookie of the Year led the league in goals (11) and points (23) and ranked first among freshmen nationally in points per game (1.44).
 
Quinnipiac (6-10-0, 4-6-0 NEC)
Quinnipiac returns 13 players from a team that improved two games from the previous season and looks to continue the upswing in 2012.
 
Player to Watch: All-NEC First Team selection and senior captain Philip Suprise (Milwaukee, WI/Pius XI) has led the Bobcats in scoring in each of the past three seasons. In 2011, he netted five goals and tallied 11 points in 14 games, 13 of which were starts. He ended the season on a three-game scoring streak.
 
Robert Morris (4-12-1, 0-10-0 NEC)
The Colonials will look to build off their first-half run from a season ago in which they manufactured a 4-2-1 record against non-conference competition. Head coach Bill Denniston will have his two top scorers returning to the pitch, including Prince Samuels (Saint Catherine, Jamaica/Kingston College), who netted six goals and 13 points, and his talented senior netminder, Toba Bolaji (Vaughn, Ontario/Maple).
 
Player to Watch: Bolaji was a force between the pipes last season. Despite a 4-12-1 record, he posted a 1.44 goals against average and made 96 saves to go along with one shutout.
 
Sacred Heart (10-5-4, 7-3-0 NEC)
After earning a share of the 2011 NEC Regular Season Title, the Pioneers will look to capture both trophies in 2012. SHU will have the talents of reigning NEC Player and Defensive Player of the Year Marcello Castro (Panana, Brazil/ Centro Universitario Maringa) returning to anchor the backline, along with veteran defender Omer Levy (Yahud, Israel/Makif-Yahud) to back him up.
 
Player to Watch: A versatile defender that also played a bit of forward, Castro led the Pioneers with six goals and tallied 13 points. Of those six scores, four of them proved to be game-winners, including his strike against co-champion Central Connecticut.
 
St. Francis (NY) (10-5-3, 5-3-2 NEC)
St. Francis (NY) manufactured one of the longest winning streaks in recent memory last season, winning eight straight games. The Terriers will look to do it again in 2012, especially with the French duo of All-NEC selections Gabriel Bagot (Nevers, France/Edison Academic Center) and Adam Maabdi (Lille, France/Lycee Paul Duez) returning up front.
 
Player to Watch: Bagot was the main scoring threat for the Terriers last season. He netted eight goals and dished out three assists for 19 points. He also led the team in game-winning goals, earning SFC the win in five contests.
 
Saint Francis (PA) (10-6-2, 6-3-1 NEC)
The Red Flash look to return to the postseason for the fourth time since 2006 and the coaches expect it to happen. Picked third in the preseason poll, SFPA returns a slew of talent from last year’s team that went 10-6-2, including leading scorer Pablo Medina (Monterrey, Mexico/IMG Academies).
 
Player to Watch: Medina powered the Red Flash by scoring four goals and dishing out four assists for 12 points. The two-time adidas/NEC Rookie of the Week also scored two game-winning goals, including the deciding marker against league champion Monmouth late in the season.