Murfreesboro, N.C. – 2023 tournament champion Chowan University has been picked to claim their second Conference Carolinas regular season title in the 2024 Men’s Soccer Preseason Coaches’ Poll.

The conference office officially unveiled the preseason poll on August 26. The preseason poll was voted on by the league’s head coaches.

“We’reexcited to be picked first in the Preseason Poll, which I think is a testament to our body of work last season,” stated Chris Whalley, Head Men’s Soccer Coach at CU. “We won’t be naive though, and understand to achieve our goals for this year we will have to work extremely hard.”

Chowan finished second in the East Division a season ago going 3-1-2 in divisional play and earned the second seed in the conference tournament going 7-2-2 in conference contests and 8-4-6 overall. Chowan earned the 10th seed in the NCAA Men’s Soccer Southeast Regional last season. The Hawks collected 154 points and eight of the 14 first place votes. 2023 tournament runner-up and Northwest Division champion Converse University was picked second with 151 points on first place vote. Young Harris College (3) and Francis Marion University (2) earned the final five first place votes. Young Harris, the 2023 Southwest Division champion, is picked to finish third with 146 points while the Patriots came in fourth with 139 points. Belmont Abbey College rounded out the top five with 122 points in fifth.

Barton College is picked sixth with 99 points as they are followed by Emmanuel University at seventh with 92 points and Lees-McRae College with 88 points in eighth. The University of Mount Olive, 83 points, and North Greenville University, 76 points, round out the top 10 in ninth and 10th, respectively.

Southern Wesleyan University (44 points), King University (34 points), Erskine College (24 points) and newcomer Shorter University (22 points) rounded out the poll.

The 2024 season gets underway on Thursday, September 5 with conference play beginning on September 14. The first two rounds of the conference tournament will take place on campus sites at the higher seeds on November 7 and 10. The semifinals and championship, November 15 and 17, will be played at Bryan Park in Browns Summit, North Carolina.

2024 Conference Carolinas
Men’s Soccer Preseason Poll

	School	Total (First Place)
1	Chowan	154 (8)
2	Converse	151 (1)
3	Young Harris	146 (3)
4	Francis Marion	139 (2)
5	Belmont Abbey	122
6	Barton	99
7	Emmanuel	92
8	Lees-McRae	88
9	Mount Olive	83
10	North Greenville	76
11	Southern Wesleyan	44
12	King	34
13	Erskine	24
14	Shorter	22

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2024 Conference Carolinas Men’s Soccer
Players to Watch

Barton

• Gabriel Slemer Lopes, Sr., M, São Paulo, Brazil (2023 All-Conference Carolinas second team)
• Kai Thurston, So., D, Harleston, England
• Dan Ivanov, So., MF, Croydon, England

Belmont Abbey

• Drew Daunt, Sr., M, Tallahassee, Florida
• Pat Hissim, So., D, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
• Mikey Reid, Sr., F, Pembroke Pines, Florida

Chowan

• Bradley Binns, Jr., M, Pontefract, England (2023 All-Conference Carolinas first team)
• Chase Jansen, Jr., GK, Palm Bay, Florida, (2023 All-Conference Carolinas, Conference Carolinas Tournament MVP)
• Charlie Birch, Sr., D, Carlisle, England, (2023 All-Conference Carolinas third team)

Converse

• Gabriel Verona, Sr., D, São Lourenço do Oeste, Santa Catarina, Brazil , (2023 All-Conference Carolinas first team, D2CCA All-Region second team)
• Johannes Haden, Sr., F, Stockholm, Sweden, (2023 All-Conference Carolinas second team)
• Guilherme Fontes, Jr., F/M, São Paulo, Brazil, (2023 All-Conference third team)

Emmanuel

• Tomas Pollacchi, Sr., F, San Andres de Giles, Argentina
• Matt Fitzer, Sr., F, Newport News, Virginia
• Natxo Faus, Sr., GK, Alicante, Spain

Erskine

• Andreas Aspris, Fr., M, Johannesburg, South Africa
• Caleb Drabek, So., M, Savannah, Georgia
• Bailey Hall, Jr., F, Cheshire, England

Francis Marion

• Edorta Cabieces, Sr., F, Bilbao, Spain (2023 All-Conference Carolinas selection, three-time United Soccer Coaches All-Region selection)
• David Guevara, Jr., D, Guayaquil, Ecuador
• Mario Buelga, Sr., M, Gijon, Spain

King

• Joe Elliott, Jr., M, Rochester, N.Y.
• Pedro Herrera, Sr., M, Cali, Colombia

Lees-McRae

• Gray Smith, Sr., D, Pinehurst, North Carolina (2023 All-Conference Carolinas second team)
• Fletcher Dyson, Sr., M, Aylsham, Norfolk, England 
• Harrison Watts, Sr., F, Clarksville, Tennessee

Mount Olive

• Manny Duran, So., M, George Town, Cayman Islands
• Axel Engren, Sr., GK, Sundsvall, Sweden (2022 All-Conference Carolinas second team)
• Jacques Sousa, Jr., D, Cary, North Carolina

North Greenville

• Renan Macuglia, Sr,, F, Balneário Camboriú, Brazil (All-Conference Carolinas second team)
• Enrico Onzi, Jr., M, Caxias Do Sul, Brazil
• Jacob Marino, Fr., D, Miami, Florida

Shorter

• Charles Garcia, Jr., M, Calhoun, Georgia (2023 GSC Honor Roll)
• Miguel Souza, Sr., F, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2023 GSC Honor Roll)
• Rasmus Berg, Sr. GK, Odense, Denmark (2023 GSC Honor Roll)

Southern Wesleyan

• Feren Nuñez, Sr., M, Bronx, New York (2023 All-Conference Carolinas third team)
• Alberto Esquivel, Fr., M, San Jose, Costa Rica
• Brody Schroeder, So., F, Lawrenceville, Georgia

Young Harris

• Sacha De Corte, Jr., D, Vlezenbeek, Belgium, (2023 All-Conference Carolinas second team)
• Ivar Nå Aga., So., D, Odda, Norway, (2023All-Conference Carolinas third team, All-Southeast Region third team)
• Thomas Kleinpenning, So., M, Ulft, Netherlands, (2023 All-Conference Carolinas first team, All-Southeast Region second team)