Big South Announces 2023 Preseason Men's Soccer Poll & Honors
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – Defending men’s soccer champion
High Point 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 Panthers’ forward
Noah Holmes (Cary, N.C.) the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year and HPU defender
Finn McRobb (Glasgow, Scotland) the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. Both players also earned spots on the preseason All-Conference team, which is listed below.
High Point, who defeated North Carolina in the first round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament and finished 11-5-5 overall last season, was a near unanimous selection with seven of the eight first-place votes received and 62 total points to repeat as champions this fall. The Panthers, under the direction of fifth-year head coach
Zach Haines, returns seven starters and 21 letterwinners from last year’s championship squad.
Gardner-Webb was second in the voting with 51 points -- just ahead of third-place
USC Upstate (50 points).
Presbyterian College collected 35 points to finish fourth in the poll, while
Longwood captured the fifth position with 26 points and received the remaining first-place vote.
UNC Asheville landed in sixth with 23 points -- just ahead of seventh-place
Winthrop (22 points).
Radford finished in the final spot with 19 points.
Holmes is the second Panther in three seasons to receive Big South Preseason Offensive Player of the Year honors. He was voted First-Team All-Conference last season and was named the Big South Tournament MVP. Holmes led the conference with 11 goals and 22 points, was the lone Big South player with double-digit goals scored, and started 18 of 21 matches. The two-time Big South Offensive Player of the Week also netted four game-winning goals, and posted three two-goal efforts in 2022 -- vs. Winthrop (Sept. 24), vs. Radford (Oct. 1) and vs. UNC Asheville (Oct. 21). In Big South matches last year, he scored seven times with three being game-winners. Holmes topped the preseason Offensive Player of the Year voting with 10 points (five first-place votes), followed by USC Upstate forward
Jeremy Montero (eight points, two first-place votes).
McRobb is the first High Point student-athlete to earn Big South Preseason Defensive Player of the Year distinction since 2018, and fifth overall. A First-Team All-Conference honoree in 2022 and three-time First-Team All-Big South selection in his career, McRobb was named to the United Soccer Coaches All-South Region Third Team last season, and is a two-time USC All-Region selection. The team captain started all 21 matches a season ago, was a two-time Big South Defensive Player of the Week honoree, and earned a spot on the Big South All-Tournament Team. McRobb helped the Panthers limit Big South foes to a 0.50 goals against average (just four goals allowed in eight matches), and a 1.14 overall GAA. He anchored the backline to eight shutouts and provided one goal and one assist in 1,796 minutes of action. McRobb earned four first-place votes and 10 points in the preseason defensive voting, ahead of USC Upstate defender
Felipe Marty (eight points and two first-place votes).
The 2023 Big South men’s soccer season begins Thursday, Aug. 24, while Conference play opens Saturday, Sept. 23. The top four teams in the final Big South standings will qualify for the 2023 Big South Men’s Soccer Championship, which is scheduled for Nov. 5 (Semifinals) & Nov. 11 (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.
2023 BIG SOUTH PRESEASON MEN’S SOCCER ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
F: Noah Holmes, High Point (Preseason Offensive Player of the Year)
F: Jeremy Montero, USC Upstate
F: Nile Nguidjol, Presbyterian College
MF: Jefferson Amaya, High Point
MF: Sam Pitts-Eckersall, UNC Asheville
MF: Carson Griffith, Presbyterian College
MF: Aidan Abril, High Point
D: Finn McRobb, High Point (Preseason Defensive Player of the Year)
D: Karson Kendall, High Point
D: Felipe Marty, USC Upstate
D: Julian Fernandez, USC Upstate (tie)
D: Odal Brown, Gardner-Webb (tie)
AL: Lorenzo Nagy, MF, Presbyterian College
2023 BIG SOUTH PRESEASON MEN’S SOCCER POLL
| Rk - School (first-place votes) |
Points |
| 1 - High Point (7) |
62 |
| 2 - Gardner-Webb |
51 |
| 3 - USC Upstate |
50 |
| 4 - Presbyterian College |
35 |
| 5 - Longwood (1) |
26 |
| 6 - UNC Asheville |
23 |
| 7 - Winthrop |
22 |
| 8 - Radford |
19 |
Note: points are based on a weighted system, with first-place votes receiving 8 points, followed by 7 points for second-place, and so on.