Lenoir-Rhyne Edges Wingate for Top Spot in 2025 SAC Men’s Soccer Preseason Poll
ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – A tightly contested preseason poll has Lenoir-Rhyne narrowly edging out Wingate as the top team in the 2025 South Atlantic Conference (SAC) Men's Soccer Preseason Coaches' Poll, as released by the league office on Tuesday morning.
Lenoir-Rhyne earned 84 points and two first-place votes to claim the No. 1 spot. Just behind them, Wingate collected the most first-place votes (3) and finished with 82 points, while Coker also received three first-place votes and was close behind in third with 80 points.
Mars Hill, which garnered a single first-place nod, placed fourth with 71 points. Lincoln Memorial (62 points) and Anderson (57 points) rounded out the top half of the poll.
Emory & Henry, Catawba, Carson-Newman, Tusculum, and Newberry completed the bottom half of the rankings.
The SAC also unveiled its 2025 Preseason All-Conference Team, highlighted by a balanced representation across the league's programs. Mars Hill forward Adrian Faus headlines the First Team selections, joined up top by Bautista Vecchi-Ramello (Catawba), Emmanuel Arkoh (Anderson), and Ben Dukes (Carson-Newman).
The midfield features standout returners like Marcelo Lopes (Emory & Henry) and Juan Lepervanche (Anderson), while Guillermo Garcia and David Grifell of Lenoir-Rhyne anchor the back line.
Goalkeeper honors go to Nikolaj Bertelsen from Emory & Henry, who rounds out the First Team.
The league also named its 2025 Players to Watch, spotlighting emerging talent and veteran leaders from each of the 11 SAC men's soccer programs.
2025 SAC Men's Soccer Preseason Coaches' Poll
|
Rank |
School (First-Place Votes) |
Points |
|
1. |
Lenoir-Rhyne (2) |
84 |
|
2. |
Wingate (3) |
82 |
|
3. |
Coker (3) |
80 |
|
4. |
Mars Hill (1) |
71 |
|
5. |
Lincoln Memorial |
62 |
|
6. |
Anderson |
57 |
|
7. |
Emory & Henry |
53 |
|
8. |
Catawba |
52 |
|
9. |
Carson-Newman |
36 |
|
10. |
Tusculum |
16 |
|
11. |
Newberry |
12 |
2025 Preseason All-Conference – First Team
Forwards
- Adrian Faus, Mars Hill
- Bautista Vecchi-Ramello, Catawba
- Emmanuel Arkoh, Anderson
- Ben Dukes, Carson-Newman
Midfielders
- Marcelo Lopes, Emory & Henry
- Juan Lepervanche, Anderson
- Mitchell Honcoop, Carson-Newman
- Ronan O'Mahony, Lincoln Memorial
Defenders
- Ben Harvey, Mars Hill
- Guillermo Garcia, Lenoir-Rhyne
- Marc Vila, Anderson
- David Grifell, Lenoir-Rhyne
Goalkeeper
- Nikolaj Bertelsen, Emory & Henry
Players to Watch by Program
Carson-Newman
- Dan Coles, Jr., D
Catawba
- Tomas Kelly, Sr., M
- Vito Venaría, R-Jr., M
Coker
- Myles Jackson, Sr., D
- Rodrigo Tostado, Sr., F
- Tyler Schwartz, So., MF
Emory & Henry
- Noah Serwy, Fr., F
Lincoln Memorial
- Gian-Carlo Kama, Sr., F
- David McDougall, Jr., D
Lenoir-Rhyne
- Arnau Olle, Jr., MF
Mars Hill
- Diego Fernandez, Jr., F
- Gabriel Cavalcanti, Fr., MF
Newberry
- Josh Momodu, Sr., D
- Seraphin Guetan, Jr., F/M
- Brayden Martinez, Sr., D
Tusculum
- Clarenns Sainrimat, So., MF
- Filippo Canaletich, Fr., F
- Hugo Le Floch, Fr., MF
Wingate
- Camilo Salazar, So., MF
- Jude Enwhistle, Fr., F
- Luka Srzic, Fr., GK