OFFICIAL USA SOUTH CONFERENCE RELEASE LINK
BREVARD, N.C. – The Brevard College men's soccer team has been selected to finish third in the USA South Conference West Division Coaches Preseason Poll ahead of the start of the Spring 2021 season of competition.
The Tornados, who finished the 2019 regular season in second place in the USA South West Division, garnered a first-place vote in the tabulation alongside 26 points to place third in the annual preseason poll voted on by the men's soccer coaches in the USA South. Covenant College, the defending USA South West Division Regular Season Champions, finished with three first-place selections and 33 points to edge Maryville College's three first-place votes and 32 points. Piedmont College garnered 23 points to finish fourth, while LaGrange College (14 points), Huntingdon College (12 points), and Berea College (seven points) round out the west division preseason poll.
Each divisional preseason poll only includes votes from coaches within each particular division. Head coaches do not vote for their own teams in the balloting.
Due to complications stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 men's soccer seasons were postponed until the spring semester. Despite the delay to the start of the season, the USA South is prepared to offer regular season and championship experiences for its student-athletes despite the NCAA's cancelation of the national Division III tournament. An adjustment to this season's competition is that USA South men's soccer teams will be competing in Conference-sponsored regular season and tournament action against teams within their division only.
The Spring 2021 USA South Men's Soccer postseason will consist of an East Division and a West Division Tournament. The top-four seeded teams from each division will advance to their respective tournaments. The winners of those events will be crowned Divisional Conference Champions. There will be no overall USA South Champion this season.
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Spring 2021 USA South Men's Soccer Coaches Preseason Poll |
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Rank |
Institution (1st Place Votes) |
Pts. |
|
1. |
Covenant^ (3) |
33 |
|
2. |
Maryville (3) |
32 |
|
3. |
Brevard (1) |
26 |
|
4. |
Piedmont |
23 |
|
5. |
LaGrange |
14 |
|
6. |
Huntingdon |
12 |
|
7. |
Berea |
7 |
|
^Defending Division Champion |
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The Tornados, under second-year Head Coach L D'Anna, will look to build upon one of its most successful seasons in program history in the Fall of 2019 that saw Brevard make its first trip to the postseason since 2016, earning a berth into the 2019 ECAC Men's Soccer Championships. BC enjoyed the program's most successful regular season in the NCAA era by earning the first regular-season winning record (7-6-3) in the program's 11-year stretch against NCAA competition.
Brevard's seven regular-season tied the 2016 and 2017 Tornados for the most single-season victories in Brevard's NCAA-era. All of the Tornados' victories this season came in USA South Conference play, setting a new single-season high for most conference wins in program history.
The Tornados are set to kick off their Spring campaign on Sunday, February 7 at 2 p.m. when Brevard battles NCAA DII opponent Southern Wesleyan University at the newly-expanded Ives-Lemel Family Field on the campus of Brevard College.
As a safety measure due to the COVID-19 pandemic, only Brevard College students, faculty and staff, as well as essential game personnel, will be permitted at Ives-Lemel Family Field for this Sunday's Brevard College vs. Southern Wesleyan Men's Soccer game. No outside spectators will be permitted for the contest. For those attending the match from the on-campus community, masks and social distancing are required.
An official announcement from the USA South Conference will be forthcoming to address the spectator policy for all outdoor sports played in the Spring of 2021. Stay tuned to bctornados.com for more information.
The game will be broadcast live, free-of-charge, on the Brevard College Athletics YouTube Channel at youtube.com/BrevardCollegeTornados.
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-BC-