Men's Soccer Picked Second in CCC Preseason Poll

2017 CCC Men's Soccer Preseason Poll Video

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – After making its first trip to the championship game of the Commonwealth Coast Conference Tournament since the 2009 season last year, the Wentworth Institute of Technology men's soccer team has been picked to finish second in the CCC Preseason Coaches' Poll.

The Leopards picked up three first-place votes and a total of 90 points to rank behind defending regular-season champion Endicott, which was picked to finish first with 96 points (six first-place votes). Gordon (77 points) was picked to finish third while Western New England, which defeated the Leopards in the title game a year ago, grabbed the other first-place vote and 70 total points. Roger Williams closed out the top five in the 2017 poll with 60 points.

Nichols (50 points), Curry (32), Salve Regina (30), the University of New England (26), and Eastern Nazarene (19) round off the bottom half of the poll in that order.

Returning 20 players from last season's squad, the Leopards hope to remain in the hunt for their first CCC title since 1996 as four of their top five scorers are back on the pitch. Leading the way is junior Noah Martins (Dartmouth, Mass.), who scored 36 points on 15 goals and six assists as a sophomore earning him First Team All-CCC honors last season. Senior Matt Cicalis (Bridgewater, Mass.), a third team all-conference section a season ago, returns after scoring 13 points (five goals, three assists), while two-time First Team All-CCC selection and two-time All-New England selection senior Emmett Basaca (San Diego, Calif.) tallied 12 points (three goals, six assists). Senior Joe Kalil (Franklin, Mass.), a First Team All-CCC selection as a junior, helps anchor a defense which allowed just over a goal a game and posted seven shutouts. Kalil also scored nine points in 2016. In net, juniors Joe Schallmo (Norwood, Mass.) and Matthew Sekarak (Winthrop, Maine) both return. Schallmo posted a 0.73 goals against average and six solo shutouts while Sekarak had a 1.54 goals against average and a solo shutout.

The men's soccer schedule gets underway on Friday, Sept. 1 with eight CCC teams starting non-conference play. The Conference schedule kicks off on Saturday, Sept. 16. The top eight teams in the 2017 regular-season conference standings will qualify for the CCC Tournament, which starts with the quarterfinals on Saturday, Oct. 28 and concludes with the Conference Championship a week later on Nov. 4. The CCC Tournament Champion will earn the conference's automatic qualifier in to the 2017 NCAA Men's Soccer Championship.

Wentworth opens the 2017 slate at the Cadet Kickoff Classic in Northfield, Vt., on Sept. 1-2. The Leopards will face Ithaca on Sept. 1 and the host Cadets a day later.

2017 CCC Men's Soccer Preseason Coaches' Poll

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