Aug. 10, 2011
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By Pat Salvas
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - With just two weeks left before the 2011 season starts, the UCF men's soccer team learned that it has been selected to finish second overall in a preseason poll of the nine Conference USA head coaches. The Knights garnered two first-place votes and are second only to SMU in the poll.
In addition to being picked second, the coaches also voted junior Nik Robson (Auckland, New Zealand) and seniors Kevan George (Roxborough, Trinidad) and Warren Creavalle(Acworth, Ga.) onto the C-USA Preseason All-Conference Team.
"I am happy about where the other coaches in the league selected us to finish this season," head coach Bryan Cunninghamsaid. "We appreciate that other programs think highly of what we are doing here, but when we start playing games, none of that will matter and we will just have to focus on the task ahead of us."
UCF finished the 2010 regular season with the No. 2 spot in the C-USA standings after a 4-1-3 record in league play. The second seed in the conference tournament was the highest finish for the Knights since joining C-USA in 2005.
George, Creavalle and Robson were all named to the All-C-USA First Team following last season for their efforts in helping the Knights to a historic season. All three also earned spots on the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-South Region teams as Creavalle landed on the First Team and Robson and George on the third team.
Last season, Robson led the league in scoring with 31 points on 11 goals and nine assists, while George proved to be one of the best leaders and captains in the country. Creavalle also earned NSCAA Third-Team All-American honors for his play as a junior, developing into one of the best all-around midfielders in the nation.
The Knights begin the 2011 season on Friday Aug. 26 at Jacksonville at 7 p.m. The first home game for the Black and Gold comes Sept. 2 as it hosts UMass in the newly expanded UCF Soccer Stadium.
Preseason Team Poll
(first-place votes)
1. SMU (5)
2. UCF (2)
3. Tulsa (1)
4. South Carolina (1)
5. Kentucky
6. UAB
7. Marshall
8. FIU
9. Memphis