WASHINGTON -- The reigning Atlantic 10 Men's Soccer Regular Season Champions, the VCU Rams, were tabbed to repeat this season as the 2024 campaign opens Thursday, per the conference's annual Preseason Poll. Additionally, the league released the 11-man Preseason All-Conference team Wednesday morning in advance of the season's opening slate of matches set for this upcoming Thursday, Aug. 22.
The A-10 Preseason Poll and Preseason All-Conference team are voted on by the league's head coaches.
VCU earned 183 points and five first place votes in the preseason poll. VCU went 7-6-5 overall last season with a 5-1-2 mark in Atlantic 10 play on its way to the A-10 Regular Season Championship. The Rams returns All-Atlantic 10 First Team selections Moussa Ndiaye and Gerardo Castillo as well as Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year Andrey Salmeron. Leonel Vergara also returns after joining Salmeron on the Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team. Salmeron, Castillo and Ndiaye all earned a spot on the Atlantic 10 Preseason All-Conference team, giving the Rams the most selections of any school.
Saint Louis narrowly comes in at second in the preseason poll with 178 points and four first place votes. The Billikens went 8-4-5 overall and 4-1-3 in league play a season ago. SLU was unbeaten at Hermann Stadium (7-0-3) last year and is 30-3-9 on its home pitch over the last four seasons. Saint Louis is led by Preseason All-Atlantic 10 honoree Joey Maher, who transferred this offseason from Indiana where he made two NCAA College Cups and won two Big Ten Championships.
Last year's Atlantic 10 Champion, the Dayton Flyers, come in at No. 3 in the preseason poll with 167 points and three first place votes. The Flyers won their fifth A-10 Championship last year, earning a spot in the College Cup where they narrowly lost to Louisville. Dayton is led by their two Preseason All-Atlantic 10 selections, midfielders Miles Bonham and Joseph Melto Quiah. Bonham had a stellar debut season in collegiate soccer last year, leading the Flyer field players in minutes played with 1,788 minutes and starting all 20 contests. Quiah recorded 13 points with four goals and five assists in just 11 contests last year. The Liberian midfielder ranked in the Top 10 in the conference in shots, assists, and points.
Loyola Chicago takes the fourth spot in the preseason poll, with 157 points and two first place votes. The Ramblers return 15 student-athletes from last year's squad, including the Atlantic 10 Goalkeeper of the Year and Preseason All-Conference honoree Aidan Crawford. The keeper logged five solo shutouts, helping Loyola lead the conference in goals against average per game (.985).
Fordham earns the fifth spot in the preseason poll with 124 points. Massachusetts (115), Davidson (114) and Duquesne (107) are narrowly behind the Rams at six, seven and eight. UMass, Davidson and Duquesne are led by a trio of Preseason All-Atlantic 10 forwards, Alec Hughes, Maxi Hopfer and Denis Krioutchenkov. Hughes was a Third Team All-American via College Soccer News last season for UMass, after being named the 2023 Atlantic 10 Player of the Year. During his time as a Minuteman, Hughes has accumulated 4,465 minutes on the pitch. He has recorded 77 points on 35 goals and seven assists. His 35 career goals is fifth all-time at UMass while his 77 points is seventh. Hopfer ranks eighth in the Duquesne career record book with 18 goals, while standing ninth with a career total of 46 points and sixth in career game-winners. Krioutchenkov was a First Team All-Atlantic 10 selection last year for Davidson after he scored a team-high nine goals with two assists for 20 points in his second year in the red and black.
Rhode Island was selected ninth in the preseason poll with 87 points while George Mason was picked 10th with 78 points. The Patriots are led by Luis Maestre, who was tied for the Atlantic 10 lead in assists (9) and tied for third in the conference in points (19) last year. Among NCAA leaders, he tied for second in the nation in assists (9).
Rounding out the preseason poll is Saint Joseph's (56 points), George Washington (38 points), La Salle (36 points) and St. Bonaventure (30 points).
The 2024 Atlantic 10 Men's Soccer season officially kicks off on Thursday, Aug. 24 with 12 programs getting underway on the opening day of action. Conference play begins on Friday, Sept. 20 before the league concludes the campaign with the 2024 Atlantic 10 Men's Soccer Championship, set for Nov. 8-17 on the campuses of the highest-seeded institutions.
2024 A-10 Men's Soccer Preseason Poll
|
School (First-Place Votes) |
Points |
| 1 |
VCU (5) |
183 |
| 2 |
Saint Louis (4) |
178 |
| 3 |
Dayton (3) |
167 |
| 4 |
Loyola Chicago (2) |
157 |
| 5 |
Fordham |
124 |
| 6 |
Massachusetts |
115 |
| 7 |
Davidson |
114 |
| 8 |
Duquesne |
107 |
| 9 |
Rhode Island |
87 |
| 10 |
George Mason |
78 |
| 11 |
Saint Joseph's |
56 |
| 12 |
George Washington |
38 |
| 13 |
La Salle |
36 |
| 14 |
St. Bonaventure |
30 |
2024 A-10 Men's Soccer Preseason All-Conference Team
| Name |
Class |
Position |
School |
| Alec Hughes |
GR |
F |
Massachusetts |
| Maxi Hopfer |
SR |
F |
Duquesne |
| Denis Krioutchenkov |
JR |
F |
Davidson |
| Miles Bonham |
SO |
MF |
Dayton |
| Joseph Melto Quiah |
JR |
MF |
Dayton |
| Andrey Salmeron |
SO |
MF |
VCU |
| Gerardo Castillo |
JR |
D |
VCU |
| Luis Maestre |
GR |
D |
George Mason |
| Joey Maher |
SR |
D |
Saint Louis |
| Moussa Ndiaye |
JR |
D |
VCU |
| Aidan Crawford |
R-SO |
GK |
Loyola Chicago |