Vermont Picked to Win America East

A Look at the New England Teams in the AE

August 20, 2008

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The University of Vermont has been chosen to repeat as America East champions by the league’s head coaches in the conference preseason coaches’ poll released Wednesday.

Just one season removed from a second round showing in the NCAA tournament, the Catamounts earned 60 points and received five first-place votes (coaches were not permitted to vote for their own team), while Binghamton University, the 2007 regular-season champion and tournament runner-up, came in second with 53 points and three first-place tallies.

Boston University, an NCAA participant in 2007, followed closely in third with 51 points. New Hampshire garnered one first-place vote and was picked fourth with 38 points. UMBC was slotted in fifth (35 points) followed by University of Hartford (32), Stony Brook University (29), University at Albany (17) and University of Maine (9) to round-out the nine-team poll.

Vermont senior goalkeeper Roger Scully. (Photo source: UVM Athletics)

Vermont (9-10-3, 4-2-2) started last season just 4-9, but rode an eight-game unbeaten streak through the conference tournament, including seven straight shutouts, and into the second round of the NCAA Championship. The catamount meet Binghamton in the AE championship, and surprised the Bearcats, 1-0.

Seven starters and 21 players return for the Catamounts, including a trio of all-conference performers: junior forward T.J. Gore, senior goalkeeper Roger Scully and senior back Connor Tobin. Scully, the Most Outstanding Player of the 2007 America East Championship, became just the second keeper to hold opponents scoreless throughout the tournament (Vermont’s Jim St. Andre, 1989). Tobin leads a defensive backfield that along with Scully allowed just three goals in 10 games against league opponents. Gore will pace the offensive attack, along with seniors Lee Stephane Kouadio and Jordan Crasilneck, who combined contributed eight of Vermont’s nine game-winning goals last season.

Meanwhile, BU (9-7-4, 3-2-3) became the first America East school to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Championship since 1996. The Terriers, who faced five teams ranked in the RPI Top 20 and dealt Brown its only regular-season loss, fell to eventual Final Four participant UMass, 2-1 in the NCAA first round. The Terriers bring back nine starters, including first-team all-conference standout Shaun Taylor, who was tied for fourth with five goals in 2007. Rookie of the Year Aaron O’Neal will help also help pace the attack. O’Neal ranked third in the league with 16 points and found the back of the net six times, three of which were game-winners.

New Hampshire (5-5-9, 2-1-5) advanced to the semifinals of the America East Championship for the second straight year in 2007 on the back of its defense. The Wildcats were second among conference leaders with a 0.70 goals against average, but were only eighth in the league offensively, scoring 0.58 goals per game. UNH hopes junior forward Chris Banks can return to form in 2008. The 2006 America East Striker and Rookie of the Year made just six starts and missed seven games due to injury last season.

Hartford (7-4-7, 2-1-5) will be in search of its first men’s soccer title since 1999 after bowing out in the quarterfinal round last season. The Hawks will have to replace the output of five all-conference performers, including Matt Glaeser, the 2007 Goalkeeper of the Year, and Andreas Blamo, a second-team selection, who will miss the upcoming season with an injury. Junior Kevin Hall, who ranked eighth in America East in goals per game last year, will lead the attack, along with all-rookie performer Jamie Thomas.

Maine (3-13-1, 1-6-1) notched its first conference win since 2005 last season and looks to return to the conference tournament for the first time since 2003. The Black Bears bring back eight starters, including their leading scorer, senior Dimitri Anastasiou, who finished 2007 tied for sixth among league leaders with four goals.

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