Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Picked to Finish Fourth in MAC
August 27, 2013 | Men's Soccer
Conference office releases preseason coaches poll
Akron, the defending regular-season and tournament champion, was picked to capture the 2013 MAC regular-season title. Point totals were not released, but the Zips received six of the seven first-place votes, and also garnered five of the seven votes to win the MAC Tournament.
MAC men's soccer affiliate West Virginia was picked to finish second in the regular-season standings. The Mountaineers received one vote to win the regular-season crown and two votes to capture the tourney title.
Northern Illinois was picked to place third, with the Falcons of head coach Eric Nichols tabbed for fourth. Buffalo, Western Michigan and Hartwick round out the poll.
Nichols and his staff return 13 letterwinners, including nine starters, from a year ago. The 2012 team, picked to finish sixth in the preseason poll, went 8-9-3 overall and tied for fourth in the MAC regular-season standings with a 3-3-1 league ledger. The 2012 club posted the program's highest win total in nearly a decade, since the 2003 season.
The 2013 Falcons open the regular season with a pair of home matches over Labor Day weekend. BGSU hosts Malone University on Friday night (Aug. 30), and the Brown and Orange will face the University of Michigan Monday evening (Sept. 2). Both matches, like all of BGSU's men's soccer home contests, will begin at 7:00 p.m. at Cochrane Field, and admission to all Falcon home soccer matches is free.
BGSU's MAC opener will be Saturday afternoon, Sept. 21, at Akron. The Falcons have only two home matches in conference play, welcoming NIU (Oct. 12) and Hartwick (Oct. 26) to Cochrane. BG travels to UA, UB (Oct. 4), WMU (Nov. 2) and WVU in 2013. The match vs. the Mountaineers, on Nov. 8, is the final regular-season contest for the Brown and Orange, and the MAC Tournament will be held the following weekend, with the semifinals on Nov. 15 and the championship on Nov. 17. The conference tournament will be held at the home field of the regular-season champion.
2013 MAC Men's Soccer Preseason Coaches' Poll
(First-place votes received in parentheses)
1. Akron (6)
2. West Virginia (1)
3. Northern Illinois
4. Bowling Green
5. Buffalo
6. Western Michigan
7. Hartwick
Votes to win 2013 MAC Tournament
Akron 5; West Virginia 2
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