The Eastern New Mexico men’s soccer team has been selected 11th in the 2018 Heartland Men’s Soccer Preseason Poll after receiving a total of 68 votes.
As voted upon by the coaches and media representatives from each program, the poll kicks off the official start to the season across the league. Midwestern State received 22 first place votes and will enter the year as the favorite for the third consecutive season.
St. Edward’s and West Texas A&M followed the Mustangs on the list in second and third place respectively and each received one of the other two first-place votes. St. Edward’s will be looking to qualify for their fifth consecutive post season tournament while West Texas A&M returns three Preseason All-Heartland selections in Troy Reeves, Ivan Ulloa and Julio Vargas.
As for the Greyhounds, a year of unknowns will get started inside Greyhound Stadium on Aug. 30 for the regular season opener against Southern Nazarene. First year head coach Jon Fridal has revitalized the roster with young talent, specifically young international talent, as 20 of the 29 athletes currently on roster hail from countries outside of the United States.
The Hounds will be looking to improve on a conference record of 3-11 a season ago, but with so many fresh faces and a new philosophy on the sidelines in Portales, the 11th place preseason ranking could prove to be a severe underestimation on the potential of the 2018 version of the men’s soccer program.
