Little East Conference preseason soccer polls released

- The Little East Conference pre-season soccer coaches' polls have been announced, and Plymouth State University is picked to finish second in the men's race and sixth in the women's standings.  The votes were cast by the conference's head soccer coaches, and the polls were released Monday by LEC Commissioner William M. Moore.

            The Panther men's soccer team, which tied for the regular season title in 2003 before finishing third last season, received two first-place votes in this year's balloting and finished runner-up with 52 points.  Three-time defending champion Keene State got the other six top votes and was predicted to repeat, earning 59 points.  Rhode Island College and UMass Dartmouth rounded out the top four schools in the voting.

            The Panther women's soccer team, which tied for fifth in last year's LEC standings, received one first-place vote and finished sixth in this year's poll with 26 points.  Two-time defending champion Keene State was picked to repeat, receiving three first-place votes and earning 57 points.  Western Connecticut also received three top votes and finished second with 55 points, and Eastern Connecticut got one first-place vote and finished third with 51 points.

            The LEC soccer tournaments are scheduled for the first week in November, with the conference champions receiving an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.

The complete Little East Conference soccer preseason poll results are listed below:

  2005 LEC Men's Soccer Pre-Season Poll
1.        Keene State  (6)                         59
2.        Plymouth State  (2)                  52
3.        Rhode Island College               47
4.        UMass-Dartmouth                     36
T-5.    Eastern Connecticut                  31
T-5.    Western Connecticut                 31
7.        Southern Maine                          21
8.        UMass Boston                           11

    (first-place votes in parentheses)

  2005 LEC Women's Soccer Pre-Season Poll
1.        Keene State (3)                             57
2.        Western Connecticut  (3)             55
3.        Eastern Connecticut  (1)              51
4.        Southern Maine                             39
5.        UMass Dartmouth                         29
6.        Plymouth State (1)                       26
7.        Rhode Island College                  23
8.        UMass Boston                                8

    (first-place votes in parentheses)

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