Newport News, Va. – With the regular season starting this weekend, the Atlantic 10 Conference announced its men's soccer preseason poll and All-Conference team on Wednesday.
Fordham, which won the Atlantic 10 Championship in 2014 and made the semifinals a year ago, was picked to finish fifth, along with George Washington, and behind Saint Louis, Dayton, VCU, and Rhode Island. George Mason (7
th), Duquesne (8
th), Davidson (9
th), Massachusetts (10
th), Saint Joseph's (11
th), La Salle (12
th), and St. Bonaventure (13
th) rounded out the poll.
The Atlantic 10 Championship will be held at Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina, November 10
th-13
th.
In addition to being picked fifth, the Rams also had four players named to either the preseason All-Conference Team or preseason All-Rookie Team. Juniors
Jannik Loebe (Kierpse, Germany) and
Matthew Lewis (Kansas City, Mo.), along with sophomore
Janos Loebe (Kierspe, Germany), were selected to the preseason All-Conference Team, while freshman
Dantae Greer (Fair Lawn, N.J.) was placed on the All-Rookie Team.
Janos Loebe was the 2015 Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year
The Loebe brothers and Lewis were all named to the Atlantic 10 All-Conference Team a year ago, led by
Janos Loebe, who was the 2015 Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year and First Team All-Conference. He led the Rams with five goals and five assists for 15 points and was an NSCAA Second Team All-Midwest Region pick.
Lewis and
Jannik Loebe both earned Second Team All-Conference accolades a season ago. Lewis started all 19 games on the Rams' backline, helping Fordham post seven shutouts. He played 1,748 minutes out of a possible 1,801 during the course of the season. Loebe tied for the team lead in goals with five, all of which were in league play, while being second on the team in scoring with 13 points. In addition to being named All-Atlantic 10, he was a CoSIDA First Team Academic All-District selection and named to the Atlantic 10 All-Championship team for the second straight year.
Greer, a 6-0 forward, attended Fair Lawn High School in New Jersey, where has was a member of the National Honor Society and an honor roll student. He has played club soccer for the New York Red Bull Academy and Everton FC Westchester. He was ranked in the Top 150 by
TopDrawerSoccer in both 2014 and 2016, and attended the Jamaica U17 & U20 National Team Camp in 2015 and 2016, respectively.
The Fordham men's soccer team is slated to open their 2016 campaign on Friday, August 26
th at UMBC, beginning at 7:00 PM.
| 2016 Atlantic 10 Men's Soccer Preseason Coaches' Poll |
| Place |
Team |
Points (1st Place Votes) |
| 1. |
Saint Louis |
153 (5) |
| 2. |
Dayton |
150 (5) |
| 3. |
VCU |
147 (2) |
| 4. |
Rhode Island |
126 (1) |
| 5. |
Fordham |
110 |
|
George Washington |
110 |
| 7. |
George Mason |
101 |
| 8. |
Duquesne |
76 |
| 9. |
Davidson |
71 |
| 10. |
Massachusetts |
45 |
| 11. |
Saint Joseph's |
40 |
| 12. |
La Salle |
37 |
| 13. |
St. Bonaventure |
17 |
| 2016 Atlantic 10 Men's Soccer Preseason All-Conference Team |
| Forwards |
Midfielders |
| Janos Loebe, Fordham |
Jannik Loebe, Fordham |
| Henning Dirks, George Mason |
Garrett Heine, GW |
| Jorge Herranz, VCU |
Dominik Richter, Rhode Island |
|
Rafael Andrade Santos, VCU |
| Defenders |
|
| Lalas Abubaker, Dayton |
Goalkeeper |
| Matthew Lewis, Fordham |
Nils Leifhelm, Rhode Island |
| Tobi Adewole, GW |
|
| 2016 Atlantic 10 Men's Soccer Preseason All-Rookie Team |
| Bennett Lehner, Dayton |
Andrew Barrowman, Massachusetts |
| Daniel Dos Santos, Dayton |
Saadiq Mohammed, Saint Louis |
| Dantae Greer, Fordham |
Leo Novaes, Saint Louis |
| Tunde Akinlosotu, George Mason |
Petros Agiasiotis, VCU |
| Raheem Lawal, George Mason |
Gerald Vargas, VCU |
| Grant Robinson, George Mason |
|
