MSU picked to win Southwest Soccer Conference
General

MSU picked to win Southwest Soccer Conference

  • 16 August 2006
  • 2 min read
RICHARDSON
,
Texas
- The Midwestern State University men's soccer team emerged as the top choice in the Southwest Soccer Conference as the league's annual preseason poll was released Thursday.
MSU was picked to finish first on all but one of the 10 ballots submitted by the league's head coaches, sports information directors and various media representatives. The Mustangs collected 49 total points, which was nine more than West Texas A&M.
Northeastern
State
was third in the balloting with 31 points, while
Missouri
Southern finished fourth with 17 points.
Eastern New Mexico
garnered 13 points in the fifth spot.
MSU tied with former SSC member Incarnate Word for the championship last year with an 11-1-2 league and 13-3-2 overall record. The Mustangs have five starters back including second leading scorer Brandon Swartzendruber and top defender Daniel Woolard. Swartzendruber scored nine goals with three game winners in addition to five helpers. Sean Gill returns in goal after posting a 9-1-0 record with four shutouts.
WTAMU finished third in the SSC with an 11-8 overall and 10-4 conference record in 2005. The Buffs return nine starters off the team including all-SSC first team defender Kenneth Christensen and midfielder Tom Nutter. Shawn Carr is back between the posts after stopping 68 shots and recording six shutouts.
The Southwest Soccer Conference (SSC), formed in 2004, is an alliance of five men's soccer teams that span four states and two NCAA Division II conferences. The membership includes four Lone Star Conference teams (Eastern New Mexico,
Midwestern
State
,
Northeastern
State
and West Texas A&M) and one Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association team (
Missouri
Southern).
The 2006 season marks the first year without Incarnate Word, St. Edward's and St. Mary's in the league. The three teams now play in the Heartland Conference.
The slate of games begins in late August. Each of the five SSC teams will play the other twice during the regular season, with those contests determining the seeds for the four-team postseason conference tournament. This year's tournament will be hosted by the top seed, with the first round on Oct. 26 followed by the title game on Oct. 28.
Here's a closer look at the voting breakdown:

SSC Men's Soccer (Rank, Team, Points): 1.
Midwestern
State
, 49; 2. West Texas A&M, 40; 3. Northeastern State, 31; 4. Missouri Southern, 17; 5. Eastern New Mexico, 13.