men’s soccer picked second

Looking to defend its Centennial Conference regular-season championship, the Muhlenberg men’s soccer team begins the 2010 season picked to finish second in the conference’s preseason poll.

CC Preseason Poll School 2009 Record Points 1. Johns Hopkins (7) 16-4-3 78 2. Muhlenberg (2) 11-4-2 73 3. Swarthmore 16-2-3 66 4. Dickinson (1) 14-4-2 65 5. Franklin & Marshall 9-6-3 50 6. Gettysburg 8-7-2 36 7. McDaniel 8-8-1 32 8. Haverford 6-11-0 28 9. Ursinus 3-11-2 17 10. Washington 3-13-1 12

The Mules (11-4-2, 7-1-1 in 2009) received a pair of first-place votes and 73 points from the league’s coaches to finish five points behind preseason favorite and defending Centennial Conference tournament champion Johns Hopkins (78 points, seven first-place votes).

Muhlenberg features a talented nucleus, including reigning Centennial Conference player of the year and NSCAA first-team All-American Cody Antonini and first-team All-Centennial Conference goalkeeper Jason Daniels to go along with veterans Matt Cecconi, Eric Williams, Mike Williams and Tom Reilly.

Swarthmore (66 points) was picked to finish third while Dickinson (65 points) and Franklin & Marshall (50) rounded out the top five. Dickinson, the 2009 conference runner-up, was the only school other than Muhlenberg and Johns Hopkins to earn a first-place vote.

The Mules, who will play 11 home games this fall, kick off the 2010 season against Marywood at 5 p.m. next Saturday at Varsity Field.