Clemson men's soccer ranked No. 1 in preseason poll

Isaiah Reid returns to help anchor another Clemson men's soccer team with high expectations. (Photo: Jim Donnan / USATODAY)

by TigerNet Staff - Tue Aug 02 14:55:06 GMT-04:00 2022

The reigning national champs are starting 2022 where they left off in 2021.

Clemson men's soccer was tabbed as the No. 1 team in the land by the United Soccer Coaches poll on Tuesday.

The Tigers swept the first-place votes ahead of Georgetown, 2021 national runner-up Washington, Notre Dame and Oregon State.

Other ACC teams in the poll included Pitt (7), Duke (12), Wake Forest (15) and North Carolina (24).

Home opener opponent Indiana checked in at No. 13, which will be a 7 p.m. kick at Riggs Field on Aug. 26.

The Tigers are coming off of the program's third national title in the sport.

Mike Noonan is entering his 13th year as head coach of the program.

“It is another first for our program and one we are proud of," raved Head Coach Mike Noonan. "In the past few years, Clemson Men’s Soccer has attained a No. 1 final season ranking, a No. 1 RPI ranking, a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and now a No. 1 preseason ranking. We are always cognizant that the rankings at the end of the year are what is most important and we are looking forward to getting started on the 2022 season on August 26 vs Indiana at Riggs.”

The Tigers return All-ACC players Ousmane Sylla and Hamady Diop from their championship side, along with College Cup Offensive MVP Isaiah Reid.

On the women's soccer side, Clemson was ranked 25th in the organization's poll.

Clemson returns 20 players there from last season, including All-American and First Team All-ACC selection Megan Bornkamp and All-Conference players Hal Hershfelt, Makenna Morris and Renee Lyles, who was named to the ACC All-Freshman Team.

The Clemson women are one of six teams from the ACC ranked in the United Soccer Coaches preseason top 25. Defending National Champion Florida State garnered the first spot in the poll, while Duke (2nd), Virginia (4th), North Carolina (10th) and Notre Dame (16th) were also in the top 25.

Eddie Radwanski’s Tigers will begin their season on August 9 as they travel to Atlanta, Ga. to take on the Ole Miss Rebels in an exhibition match before hosting the UNCW Seahawks on August 14 at Historic Riggs Field for the final exhibition of the season. Clemson will host Texas A&M on August 18 at 7 p.m. for the season opener.

NATIONAL - PRE-SEASON POLL - AUGUST 2, 2022

Rank School Prev 1st Votes Total Points W-L-T

1 Clemson University 1 8 200 15-5-3

2 Georgetown University 3 0 187 18-3-1

3 University Of Washington 2 0 186 18-2-2

4 University of Notre Dame 4 0 172 14-5-5

5 Oregon State University 5 0 167 14-2-4

6 West Virginia University 8 0 157 12-3-6

7 University Of Pittsburgh 6 0 156 13-5-2

8 University Of Kentucky 11 0 138 15-2-4

9 University of New Hampshire 9 0 131 17-2-2

10 Saint Louis University 7 0 125 16-1-4

11 University Of Tulsa 10 0 124 16-2-1

12 Duke University 12 0 109 14-5-1

13 Indiana University 14 0 104 15-6-1

14 Marshall University 15 0 89 11-4-3

15 Wake Forest University 17 0 83 13-7-1

16 Providence College 16 0 82 12-5-4

17 Hofstra University 13 0 69 18-2-2

18 Florida International University 18 0 60 12-4-2

19 Missouri State University 22 0 59 17-2-0

20 University of Maryland 23 0 43 12-4-2

21 Penn State University 24 0 34 13-7-1

22 Santa Clara University 20 0 32 12-2-4

23 UCLA 25 0 27 11-7-1

24 University Of North Carolina RV 0 24 11-7-2

25 Bowling Green State University RV 0 9 11-6-3

25 Campbell University RV 0 9 15-4-2

Records shown are final 2021 records.

Also receiving votes: Virginia Tech (5), Grand Canyon University (4), Georgia State University (2), University of Vermont (1), St. John's University (1)