| Contact: Timothy
Farrell
Sports Information Director
COACHES SELECT ITHACA
TO TAKE EMPIRE 8 MEN’S SOCCER TITLE
Nazareth picked fifth in pre-season poll
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (Aug. 14, 2006) – Ithaca
College, which enters the season with a 27-game
unbeaten streak in regular season conference play,
was the unanimous selection by the conference
coaches to finish first in men’s soccer
in the Empire 8 this season. The Bombers have
finished 6-0-0 in regular season conference play
each of the past two years.
Rochester Institute of Technology, which shared
last year’s Empire 8 title with Nazareth
College after winning the championship outright
in 2004, is the coaches’ pick to finish
second this year. The Tigers advanced to the semifinals
of the ECAC Upstate Championship in 2005, losing
in the semifinals to St. John Fisher College.
The Cardinals are picked to finish third in the
conference this season.
The coaches’ selections to finish second
through fifth this season were separated by only
four points in the preseason poll. Alfred University,
which shared the conference title in 2001 and
2003, was picked to finish fourth with Nazareth
the choice to place fifth. The Golden Flyers shared
the 2003 and 2005 Empire 8 titles, earning the
conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division
III Championship last year.
To show the depth of the league’s top teams,
last year marked the third consecutive season
that the fourth seed in the conference tournament
earned at least a share of the Empire 8 title.
Nazareth was seeded fourth last year and tied
RIT in the championship match after losing the
Tigers in 4-2 in the final conference regular
season game.
Utica College and Elmira College were picked
by the coaches to finish sixth and seventh, respectively.
The NSCAA/adidas Preseason Poll will be announced
on Tuesday.
2006 Empire 8 Men’s Soccer Preseason
Coaches Poll
1. Ithaca College 36 points
2. RIT 25
3. St. John Fisher College 24
4. Alfred University 22
5. Nazareth College 21
6. Utica College 12
7. Elmira College 7
- Empire 8 -
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