Marshall #1 in SBC Preseason Coaches Poll
NEW ORLEANS – The Sun Belt Conference men’s soccer head coaches have voted Marshall as the favorite in the 2024 Preseason Coaches Poll, as the league also announced its preseason all-conference teams and individual honors.
West Virginia junior forward Marcus Caldeira was selected as the Sun Belt Conference’s Preseason Offensive Player of the Year. Caldeira was an All-Sun Belt First Team selection during the 2023 campaign. He played in all 24 games for the Mountaineers and led the league with 12 goals. Caldeira was also a Sun Belt Player of the Week honoree.
UCF fifth year defender Anderson Rosa collected Sun Belt Conference Preseason Defensive Player of the Year honors after leading his team’s back line in its first double-digit win season for the first time since 2019. Rosa also earned All-Sun Belt Second Team recognition in 2023.
West Virginia led the way with four Preseason All-Conference Team selections, as Marshall nabbed three. James Madison, Kentucky and UCF each compiled two picks apiece.
Following its first Sun Belt Conference Tournament title, Marshall received eight first-place votes and was picked to win the league in a poll of the conference’s 10 head coaches. West Virginia received two first-place votes and was picked second, followed by UCF in third.The 2024 Sun Belt Conference Men’s Soccer Championship will take place November 10-17.
2024 Sun Belt Conference Men’s Soccer Preseason Awards
Preseason Offensive Player of the Year:
Marcus Caldeira, West Virginia (Jr., F, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada)
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year:
Anderson Rosa, UCF (5th Yr., D, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil)
Preseason All-Sun Belt Team
F – Marcus Caldeira, West Virginia (Jr., Mississauga, Ontario, Canada)
F – Lucca Dourado, UCF (5th yr., Sao Paulo, Brazil)
F– Lineker Rodrigues dos Santos, Marshall (Sr., Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
F – Isaiah Chisholm, Kentucky (So., Yorktown, Va)
M – Kevin Larsson, JMU (Jr., Helsinki, Uusimaa, Finland)
M – Taimu Okiyoshi, Marshall (5th Yr., Kobe, Japan)M – Ryan Baer, West Virginia Gs., Hunterville, N.C.)
M – Marco Silva, Marshall (R-So., Coopersburg, Pa)
D – Anderson Rosa, UCF (5th yr., Salvador, Bahia, Brazil)
D – Luca Nikolai, JMU (So., Kaarst, Germany)D – Frederik Jorgensen, West Virginia (Sr., Aarhus, Denmark)
D – Max Broughton, West Virginia (Gs., Rawtenstall, England)
GK – Mols Casper, Kentucky (So., Aabenraa, Denmark)
Ties were not broken.
2024 Sun Belt Conference Men’s Soccer Preseason Coaches Poll
Marshall (8) – 1382.
West Virginia (2) – 1323.
UCF - 1114.
Kentucky - 1085.
JMU - 1066.
South Carolina - 837.
Georgia State - 808.
Old Dominion - 709.
Coastal Carolina - 6210.
Georgia Southern - 60
Parentheses indicate first-place votes