Fresh off a second consecutive conference title and its sixth championship in the past eight years, Simon Fraser University enters the 2018 campaign as unanimous favourites to defend its title in the 2018 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Preseason Men’s Soccer coaches poll.
The Clan received all seven first-place votes, thanks to the presence of seven returning starters from last year’s club.
And in a national overview, SFU finds itself ranked No. 20 by the 2018 United Soccer Coaches Division 2 national preseason poll.
Simon Fraser joins Cal Poly Pomona (No. 4) and Point Loma (No. 23) as the only West Region teams included in the national preseason top-25 ranking.
Last season, Clint Schneider’s team took home its second straight GNAC title with a 7-2-3 conference record. Simon Fraser advanced to the Div. 2 men’s championship, where it suffered a 2-1 loss in the opening round to Cal Poly Pomona.
The Clan’s dominance was on display time and again in 2017 as they put together a pair of six-match unbeaten streaks throughout the year.
SFU led all teams in goals, shots and fewest goals allowed last season. Finishing with an overall 11-3-4 mark, the squad outshot opponents by a 278-115 margin and averaged 2.11 goals per game.
It only lost two regular season matches, both in GNAC action (at Concordia and at Montana State Billings). The conference title was the program’s sixth since joining the GNAC in 2010.
The Clan return with a block of standouts, including brothers Marcello Polisi and Matteo Polisi. Marcello was named the GNAC Player of the Year as a freshman last season, starting all 18 matches and logging nearly 1,500 minutes.
Matteo, meanwhile, earned all-conference and GNAC Freshman of the Year honours after tallying 10 goals and four assists in his first season in Burnaby.
Now in his senior season, midfielder Mamadi Camara is back after being named First Team All-GNAC and United Soccer Coaches All-West Region. Camara helped his side dominate the middle of the pitch while also scoring six goals in 2017.
Defender Michael North, midfielder Kyle Jones and forward Connor Glennon are all back this year after receiving all-conference honours. They will join defender Jeff Cadman who started 17 games as a sophomore last season.
Simon Fraser opens the season with six straight road contests, including a Sept. 2 match against No. 4 Cal Poly Pomona. The Clan’s first home game is Sept. 20 against Montana State Billings on Burnaby Mountain.
The team spent the past 10 days touring Norway and chalking up a pair of wins. They defeated Staeback 3-0 with goals scored from Florian Langenegger, Aryan Chauhan and Michael North.
The team won the second game 3-1 win against Norwegian 3rd division club Locomotiv Oslo, with Matteo Polisi, Rahid Rahiem and Bjorn Borren supplying the offence.
The roster includes Burnaby natives Raheim, a junior midfielder, and former under-17 national goalkeeper Luciano Trasolini, in first season with his hometown squad but second year of university eligibility after spending last year at Barton Community College in Kansas.
Seattle Pacific, who finished second in 2017, was the No. 2 choice with 35 points. Montana State Billings was selected third.
