RSC Men's Soccer Coaches' Preseason Poll has Rio Grande (Ohio) in the top spot
MIDDLETOWN, Ohio -- The 2022 River States Conference Men's Soccer Coaches' Preseason Poll has University of Rio Grande (Ohio) as the unanimous favorite this year. The RedStorm received a perfect score of 81 total votes and got all nine of the possible first-place votes in the polling of the league's head coaches.
The RedStorm start the year ranked No 13 in the NAIA Men's Soccer Coaches Top 25 Poll released earlier in the day. Rio Grande was perfect in the RSC last year with a 9-0 RSC record in the regular season before marching to another RSC Championship tournament title. The RedStorm was 17-3-1 overall last year, which included a victory in the first round of the NAIA National Championship.
WVU Tech was selected second in the poll with 69 total votes and the remaining first-place vote. The Golden Bears were RSC semifinalists in 2021 with a loss to Rio Grande. WVU Tech ended up 10-7-2 overall, 5-2-2 RSC.
Oakland City (Ind.) University came in third in the voting with 62 votes. The Mighty Oaks reached the RSC Championship finals last season and finished up 13-9-1 overall, 6-3 RSC.
Point Park (Pa.) University jumped up to fourth in the poll with 52 votes after not qualifying for the postseason last year at 7-9-1, 3-6 RSC.
St. Mary-of-the-Woods (Ind.) College (44) came in fifth as a team predicted to make it back to the playoffs for a second year in a row. The same is true for Brescia (Ky.) University (42 votes) and Indiana University East (42 votes), which tied for the sixth and final playoff spot in the polling.
The top six of the 10 teams in the conference qualify for the postseason. Playoff qualification uses a point system that awards three points for a win, one for a tie and none for a loss. See below for the complete preseason poll.
2022 RIVER STATES CONFERENCE MEN'S SOCCER COACHES' PRESEASON POLL
(First-Place Votes in Parenthesis)
| School |
Votes |
| 1. Rio Grande (9) |
81 |
| 2. WVU Tech (1) |
69 |
| 3. Oakland City (Ind.) |
62 |
| 4. Point Park (Pa.) |
52 |
| 5. St. Mary-of-the-Woods (Ind.) |
44 |
| T-6. Brescia (Ky.) |
42 |
| T-6. IU East |
42 |
| 8. Midway (Ky.) |
32 |
| 9. Ohio Christian |
17 |
| 10. Carlow (Pa.) |
9 |