MSOC | No. 11 Saint Mary's Picked 1st in Preseason Poll, Four Gaels Named All-WCC

Photo by: Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner

MSOC | No. 11 Saint Mary's Picked 1st in Preseason Poll, Four Gaels Named All-WCC

8/26/2019 1:00:00 PM | Men's Soccer

No. 11 Saint Mary's earned the lion's share of preseason awards on Monday as they were unanimously chosen to finish first in the WCC and had four players selected to the preseason team.

SAN BRUNO, Calif. — On the heels of a record-breaking unbeaten season, No. 11 Saint Mary's is the unanimous choice by the conference coaches to repeat for the 2019 West Coast Conference title, as announced Monday by the conference office.

The Gaels top the preseason poll with all seven possible first-place votes for a total of 49 points after finishing last season with an 18-0-2 (6-0-1) record. Saint Mary's enters the new season with the longest-active unbeaten streak in the nation at a program-best 24 games unbeaten dating back to Oct. 27, 2017. The NCAA record for longest-unbeaten streak stands at 46 games (Indiana, 1983-84) with the Gaels sitting just one game back of matching Notre Dame (1977-78) and Louisville (2010-11) for No. 15 on the all-time unbeaten streak list.

Portland earned the final first-place vote and claims second in the preseason poll with 37 points, just three points ahead of third-place San Diego (34 points).

In addition, four Gaels were named to the All-WCC Preseason Team out of 11 possible spots. Seniors Jake Rudel, Anders Engebretsen, Remi Prieur, and Jakub Svehlik all received the honor in addition to being named to the MAC Hermann Watchlist earlier this month.

The preseason selection was the second time Rudel has been nominated while Prieur, Engebretsen, and Svehlik earned their first preseason team selection.

Saint Mary's kicks off their regular season this Friday versus No. 25 UC Irvine at Saint Mary's Stadium at 4 p.m. Tickets for the contest can be purchased by clicking here, calling the Ticket Office at (925) 631-GoTx, or at the stadium entrance.

2019 WEST COAST CONFERENCE MEN'S SOCCER PRESEASON POLL
Team (First Place Votes) Points
1. Saint Mary's (7) 49
2. Portland (1) 37
3. San Diego 34
4. Pacific 28
5. San Francisco 26
6. Santa Clara 23
7. Gonzaga 14
8. Loyola Marymount 13

2019 ALL-WCC PRESEASON MEN'S SOCCER TEAM
Name Institution Yr. Pos.
Miguel Berry San Diego Sr. F
Anders Engebretsen Saint Mary's Sr. F
Jonathan Jimenez Pacific Sr. F
Demetrius Kigeya Gonzaga Soph. F
Henry Lander San Diego Sr. D
Gio Magana-Rivera Portland Sr. M
Rey Ortiz Portland Sr. M
Remi Prieur Saint Mary's R-Sr. GK
Miles Robinson Santa Clara Sr. M
Jake Rudel Saint Mary's Sr. F
Jakub Svehlik Saint Mary's Sr. M