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2012 NWC Men's Soccer Coaches' Pre-Season
Poll:
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2011 records
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School
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(1st)
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Pts.
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All
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NWC
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1. Pacific Lutheran (Wash.)
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(5)
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50
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15-4
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12-2
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2. Whitworth (Wash.)
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(2)
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45
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14-3-1
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12-2
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3. Puget Sound (Wash)
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(1)
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39
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11-6
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10-4
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4. Whitman (Wash.)
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30
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9-8-2
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9-5
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5. Willamette (Ore.)
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27
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6-9-2
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5-8-1
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6. Pacific (Ore.)
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20
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5-12-1
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5-8-1
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7. Linfield (Ore.)
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13
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2-14-1
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1-12-1
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8. George Fox (Ore.)
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8
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2-15-1
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0-13-1
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(First-place votes in parenthesis. Points awarded on
8-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. Coaches cannot vote for their own
team).
Coaches picked the 2012 Northwest Conference men’s soccer
standings to finish just as they did in 2011. Co-champions
from a year ago, Pacific Lutheran and Whitworth, are the
frontrunners with 50 points and 45 points, respectively.
The Lutes, ranked No. 25 in the NSCAA/Continental Tire DIII
Men’s Soccer National Preseason poll. had five first place
points. They will be led by NWC Coach of the Year John
Yorke. Pacific Lutheran will have to fill the offensive void
created by the graduation of Spencer Augustin and Chad Kearns, the
NWC’s top two leading scorers last season.
Whitworth finished with two first place points even though they
graduated all seven All-NWC players from a year ago, including six
First Team selections. The Pirates will be led by sophomore
honorable mention All-NWC selections Robby Ubben (F) and Colin
Shockman (D).
Puget Sound is third in the poll with 33 points and the final
first place vote. Senior Second Team All-NWC goalkeeper Chris
McDonald will once again anchor the Loggers’ defense, while
fellow Second Team selections Carson Swope (M) and Andrew White (F)
will pace the offense.
Whitman (30 points) and Willamette (27 points) are fourth and
fifth in the poll. First Team All-NWC forward Leland
Matthaeus will be the leading returnee for Whitman. The
Bearcats return Second Team All-NWC forwards senior Erik Kaufman
and junior Adan Vazquez.
Pacific’s 20 points put them in sixth place. The
Boxers are coming off of an injury-plagued campaign in 2011, where
the team started 18 different lineups. Honorable mention
selection Alex Arrington (M) will lead the Boxers.
Linfield (13 points) is followed by George Fox (8
points) in seventh and eighth place. Linfield welcomes new head
coach Chuck Bechtol, a 1992 Linfield graduate. Sophomore
honorable mention selection forward Luke Hammer returns for the
Bruins.
The season begins on August 26th when Pacific hosts
Fraser Valley.