Big South Announces 2022 Preseason Men's Soccer Poll & Honors
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – Defending men’s soccer champion Campbell University has been voted the favorite in the annual Big South Conference preseason poll by the league’s head coaches, it was announced today by the conference office. In addition, the coaches voted Camels’ redshirt-junior forward Tyler Young (Troutman, N.C.) the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, Campbell senior defender Bissafi Dotte (Paris, France) the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year honoree, and High Point redshirt-senior Holden Trent (Greensboro, N.C.) the Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year.
The Camels, who won the 2021 Big South regular-season championship with a 7-0-1 league record in addition to the Conference Championship as the No. 1 seed, are ranked No. 25 in the United Soccer Coaches preseason national Top 25 poll. Campbell, which finished 15-4-2 overall last season, was a near unanimous selection with eight of the nine first-place votes received and 80 total points to repeat as champions this fall. Campbell, under the direction of eighth-year head coach Dustin Fonder, returns eight starters and 16 letterwinners from last year’s championship squad.
High Point, last season’s Tournament Runner-Up, was second in the voting with 72 points and received the remaining first-place vote. Longwood collected 55 points to finish third in the poll, while Presbyterian College captured the fourth position with 45 points. Winthrop landed in fifth with 40 points -- just ahead of sixth-place USC Upstate (39 points). Gardner-Webb claimed seventh with 29 points, while Radford was eighth with 26 points. UNC Asheville finished in the final spot with 19 points.
Young is the third Camel to receive Big South Preseason Offensive Player of the Year honors since 2019. He was the league’s postseason Offensive Player of the Year honoree in 2021 after leading the conference in points (27), while ranking second in goals (9) and assists (9). A First-Team All-Big South and Second-Team All-South Region selection, Young missed both the Big South and NCAA tournaments due to injury, but still ranked 22nd nationally in points and 18th in assists. Campbell is 13-0-1 (9-0-1 in 2021) when has tallied at least one point in a match. He posted a career-high three assists vs. Gardner-Webb and had two goals -- including the game-winner -- at nationally-ranked UNC Greensboro last season. Young topped the preseason Offensive Player of the Year voting with 18 points (five first-place votes), followed by Longwood midfielder Markus Gronli (16 points, three first-place votes) and High Point midfielder/forward Sebastian Chalbaud (13 points and one first-place vote).
Dotte is the second consecutive Camel to earn Big South Preseason Defensive Player of the Year honors, and third since 2019. He was the Big South Defensive Player of the Year for the 2021 season, and anchored a defense that ranked fourth in the nation in goal differential (+34) and tops in the Big South in goals against average (0.98). Dotte led a Camel backline that allowed just 3.57 shots on goal, posted six shutouts and allowed just four goals in eight Big South matches. He played every minute in 13 contests -- including all 110 in the double-overtime draw with High Point, and averaged 85.7 minutes on the pitch. Dotte tallied an assist in the Camels’ win over nationally-ranked UNC Greensboro, and scored a goal against Longwood. A three-time All-Conference defender, Dotte was a member of the 2021 Big South All-Tournament Team, and has helped Campbell to a 40-9-6 overall record (21-1-2 Big South) since arriving in 2019. He earned four first-place votes and 19 points in the preseason defensive voting, ahead of High Point junior defender Finn McRobb (14 points and two first-place votes).
Trent was the first-ever Big South Goalkeeper of the Year in 2021, and is the first honoree to receive the preseason award. He started all 17 matches last season and posted a league-leading eight shutouts and ranked second in GAA at 1.11. A two-time Big South Defensive Player of the Week, as well as a TopDrawerSoccer.com Team of the Week honoree on Oct. 12, Trent allowed only one goal in 780:00 minutes of action in all eight Big South matches for a 0.12 goals-against average. He also finished league play with a .964 save percentage with seven shutouts. Trent received seven of the eight first-place votes in preseason balloting, ahead of Campbell’s Edu Rodriguez.
The 2022 Big South men’s soccer season begins Thursday, Aug. 25, while Conference play opens Friday, Sept. 16. The top four teams in the final Big South standings will qualify for the 2022 Big South Men’s Soccer Championship, which is scheduled for Nov. 6 (Semifinals) & Nov. 12 (Championship Final), and will be contested at the home sites of the highest seeds throughout. The champion receives the Big South’s automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.
2022 BIG SOUTH PRESEASON MEN'S SOCCER POLL
| Rk - School (first-place votes) |
Points |
| 1 - Campbell (8) |
80 |
| 2 - High Point (1) |
72 |
| 3 - Longwood |
55 |
| 4 - Presbyterian College |
45 |
| 5 - Winthrop |
40 |
| 6 - USC Upstate |
39 |
| 7 - Gardner-Webb |
29 |
| 8 - Radford |
26 |
| 9 - UNC Asheville |
19 |
Note: points are based on a weighted system, with first-place votes receiving 9 points, followed by 8 points for second-place, and so on.