Aug. 18, 2008
DAVIS, Calif. - The Big West Conference announced today that the UC Davis men's soccer team has been chosen to finish second as voted on by the seven head coaches in the annual preseason poll. Two-time defending conference champion UC Santa Barbara earned six first-place votes as the favorite to win its record sixth conference title in eight years. UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly were also included in the College Soccer News Top 30 preseason rankings.
"It's a great honor for our program to be recognized as top contenders by our peers," said Aggie head coach Dwayne Shaffer, who was named conference coach of the year last season. "UC Santa Barbara deserves to be at the top of the conference poll. It's always great to be recognized, but we still have to remain focused on our goals of earning a spot in the conference championship and competing for the postseason."
The Aggies claimed one of the seven first-place votes to finish with 39 points, well behind the Gauchos' 47-point total. Last year during their first NCAA Division I season, UC Davis finished 12-5-3 overall and second in the conference at 7-3-2 en route to an at-large bid into the national tournament. The Aggies return all but three starters from that squad, including top scorers Sule Anibaba and Quincy Amarikwa.
Cal Poly, who finished third in the conference last season, was one point behind the Aggies in the poll. Cal State Northridge came in fourth with 26 points. The top four teams will earn bids for the newly established conference tournament.
Rounding out the rankings were UC Irvine (20), UC Riverside (15) and Cal State Fullerton (11).
In addition, the Aggies were also recognized by College Soccer News in their preseason national rankings. UC Davis was ranked 30th, marking the program's first-ever D-I preseason ranking. The Gauchos are picked 9th in the poll while Cal Poly was 24th.
The Aggies host former Division II rival Chico State Sunday at 11 a.m. in an exhibition game at Aggie Soccer Stadium.
2008 Big West Conference Preseason Coaches Poll
1. UC Santa Barbara (6), 47 points
2. UC Davis (1), 39 points
3. Cal Poly, 38 points
4. Cal State Northridge, 26 points
5. UC Irvine, 20 points
6. UC Riverside, 15 points
7. Cal State Fullerton, 11 points
() First-place votes
