2023 RSC Men's Soccer Coaches' Preseason Poll
MIDDLETOWN, Ohio -- University of Rio Grande (Ohio) is once again a strong favorite in the 2023 River States Conference Men's Soccer Coaches' Preseason Poll. The RedStorm received nine of a possible 10 first-place votes in the polling of the league's head coaches.
Rio Grande, which won its third RSC Championship postseason title in a row last year, earned 99 out of a possible 100 votes from the other 10 head coaches. The RedStorm followed up its conference title with a run to the NAIA National Championship semifinals in 2022. Rio Grande ended the year 12-3-2 overall and 8-0-1 RSC.
WVU Tech came in second in the preseason poll with 92 total votes and the remaining two first-place votes. The Golden Bears won the RSC regular season title last year after drawing Rio Grande in the regular season. WVU Tech was the conference playoff top seed after a tiebreaker on goals conceded and ended the year at 13-2-3, 8-0-1 RSC.
Point Park (Pa.) University placed third in the poll with 77 votes. The Pioneers moved up one spot from their fourth-place finish a year ago. Oakland City (Ind.) University also moved up taking fourth in the poll with 68 votes. The Mighty Oaks placed fifth last year and were an RSC semifinalist.
New RSC member Shawnee State (Ohio) University came in fifth in the poll with 64 votes. Next was Indiana University East (53 votes) and Brescia (Ky.) University (46 votes), a couple of playoff teams from last year. There will be eight postseason qualifiers this year with the final one predicted as St. Mary-of-the-Woods (Ind.) College with 37 votes.
The RSC features 11 men's soccer teams this year with Midway (Ky.) University, new member Indiana University Purdue University Columbus and Ohio Christian University rounding out the preseason polling. See below for the complete poll.
2023 RIVER STATES CONFERENCE MEN'S SOCCER COACHES' PRESEASON POLL (AUG. 11)
(First-Place Votes in Parenthesis)
| School |
Votes |
| 1. Rio Grande (Ohio) (9) |
99 |
| 2. WVU Tech (2) |
92 |
| 3. Point Park (Pa.) |
77 |
| 4. Oakland City (Ind.) |
68 |
| 5. Shawnee State (Ohio) |
64 |
| 6. IU East |
53 |
| 7. Brescia (Ky.) |
46 |
| 8. St. Mary-of-the-Woods (Ind.) |
37 |
| 9. Midway (Ky.) |
28 |
| 10. IUPUC |
26 |
| 11. Ohio Christian |
15 |