Newport News, Va. - (Aug. 22, 2019) – With the regular season set to open next week, the Atlantic 10 Conference announced its preseason coaches' poll and All-Conference team for men's soccer on Thursday. 
 
Three different teams earned first place votes, beginning with VCU as the preseason favorite with eight first place votes and 159 points.  Saint Louis was picked second with two first place votes and 146 points, while defending Atlantic 10 champion Rhode Island is in the third slot with three first place votes and 142 points.
 
Dayton was picked fourth with Fordham, led by new head coach Carlo Acquista, was selected in the fifth slot.  Davidson, George Mason, and Saint Joseph's round out the first eight spots as the top eight will qualify for the 2019 Atlantic 10 Championship.  Quarterfinal match-ups will be played at campus sites with the semifinals and championship final taking place at Fordham's Jack Coffey Field, November 15^th and 17^th.  This is the first time that Fordham will play host to the Atlantic 10 Men's Soccer Championship, having previously hosted part of the women's basketball championship (opening round), as well as the entire cross country (once), softball (four times), and baseball (four times)

 
The rest of the preseason poll starts with Massachusetts in ninth, followed by Duquesne, George Washington, St. Bonaventure, and La Salle.
 
In addition to being picked fifth in the preseason poll, senior defender Joergen Oland (Drammen, Norway) was named to the Preseason All-Conference team for the third consecutive year.
 
Oland, who was on the preseason Hermann Award Watch List, was the 2018 Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year and a First Team All-Atlantic 10 selection as a junior, after garnering Second Team honors as a sophomore.  He also was named United Soccer Coaches First Team All-Southeast Region last season, after earning Third Team All-Midwest honors in 2017.
 
Oland helped the Fordham defense post a 0.95 goals against average last season to go with six shutouts.  In addition to his prowess on the back end, he tied his career-high with five goals, which was good for second on the Rams, while his 10 points were third on the squad.  He was also named Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Week once.
 
Fordham opens its 2019 season with a pair of games over Labor Day Weekend.  The year begins with a game at Hofstra on Friday, August 30^th, followed by a Labor Day match-up at NJIT on Monday, September 2^nd.
 

2019 Atlantic 10 Men's Soccer Preseason Poll
Rank	Team	Pts. (1st Place Votes)
1.	VCU	195 (8)
2.	Saint Louis	146 (2)
3.	Rhode Island	124 (3)
4.	Dayton	121
5.	Fordham	109
6.	Davidson	102
7.	George Mason	93
8.	Saint Joseph's	78
9.	Massachusetts	63
10.	Duquesne	57
11.	George Washington	55
12.	St. Bonaventure	42
13.	La Salle	16

Atlantic 10 Preseason All-Conference Team
Oscar Haynes Brown, George Washington, F
Leon Maric, Saint Joseph's, F
Simon Becher, Saint Louis, F
Stavros Zarokostas, Rhode Island, MF
Ritchie Barry, Saint Joseph's, MF
John Klein, Saint Louis, MF
Joergen Oland, Fordham, D
Peder Kristiansen, Rhode Island, D
Quayyum Murana, Saint Louis, D
Ulrik Edvardsen, VCU, D
Federico Barrios, Dayton, GK