The Great Lakes Valley Conference men’s soccer coaches’ poll has the Panthers picked to finish fourth in the 16-team field this season. The league released the preseason poll on Wednesday.
Drury returns 13 lettermen from a team that went 7-9-2 overall and 7-5-2 in the GLVC to finish seventh in the conference last year.
Head coach Ryan Swan will enter his eighth season guiding the program and is just seven wins shy of 100 career victories as his teams have gone 93-43-4 at Drury. He has a 69-31-4 record in GLVC games and his Panthers own a 50-14-1 mark at home during his tenure.
Defending league champion Rockhurst was picked first in the GLVC preseason poll. The Hawks are also ranked third nationally in the NCAA-II preseason poll by the National Soccer Coaches Association.
Drury opens the 2016 season Thursday, Sept. 1 at Northeastern State in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. The first home game for the Panthers is Saturday, Sept. 3 against West Texas A&M at 5 p.m. at Harrison Stadium. The Panthers open GLVC play at home against Indianapolis on Friday, Sept. 9 at the Lake Country Soccer Complex in Springfield.
Full GLVC poll results:
Team (1st place votes), points
1. Rockhurst (13), 222
2. Indianapolis (2), 209
3. Quincy, 199
4. DRURY, 169
5. Missouri S&T (1), 166
6. Bellarmine, 159
7. Missouri-St. Louis, 124
8. Southern Indiana, 104
9. Lewis, 94
10. Saint Joseph’s, 83
11. Maryville, 79
12. Illinois-Springfield, 77
13. McKendree, 71
13. Truman State, 71
13. UW-Parkside, 71
16. William Jewell, 22
The full news release from the GLVC is available on the conference’s website: www.glvcsports.com.
