NSCAA Lists Tampa Men’s Soccer in Preseason Poll
KANSAS CITY, Kan. - The University of Tampa men's soccer team is ranked No. 20 in the nation in the NSCAA/Continental Tire NCAA Division II preseason rankings following a 10-win season and NCAA bid from the 2012 campaign.
Head coach Adrian Bush's team finished 2012 at No. 22 in the final rankings, after earning one of three South Region bids to the NCAA Regional. The Spartans fell to eventual national champion Lynn University by a 1-0 score to end 2012, as UT has earned an invitation to five of the last six NCAA tourneys.
Tampa is one of three Sunshine State Conference schools in the top-25 as it is joined by No. 1 Lynn and No. 9 Rollins.
Tampa returns eight starters from last season's team, including its goalkeeper and top two scorers.
SSC Player of the Year Tyler Blackwood headlines the list of returners as the junior scored 11 goals with two assists last season. Goalkeeper David Niepel will become a four-year starter as he racked up 57 saves to go with a 1.17 GAA and four shutouts in 2012. Bush, the SSC Coach of the Year, will be forced to fill the void of the losses of two all-region players in Dominic Cutrofello and Brian Fekete. Fekete was also the squad's lone first-team All-American as Blackwood earned honorable mention status.
UT has now been ranked in five of the last six preseason polls as the Spartans have been nationally ranked for five consecutive weeks. Additionally, UT has earned a mention in the poll in a total of 14 seasons, including seven straight.
Bush now stands at 90 career wins as he looks to become the third head coach in program history to eclipse 100 and join Tom Fitzgerald (145) and Jay Miller (120) in the club.
The Spartans open the 2013 season on the road at Clayton State on Sept. 5. UT's first home game is slated for Sept. 13 at 7 p.m., versus Florida Memorial.