Link to Skyline Release
New York, NY – The Sage Colleges' men's soccer team has been picked to finish second in the race for the 2013 Skyline Conference Championship, just two points behind the league favorite and defending league champions, St. Joseph's College (LI) with 74 points. The Sage Gators garnered four of first-place votes and 72 overall points.
After seizing its third league championship in five seasons, St. Joseph's-L.I. has been selected by the slimmest of margins to defend its title in voting conducted by the league's ten head coaches.
2012 Skyline runner-up Mount Saint Mary placed third in the poll with 67 points and also received two first-place votes. SJC welcomes back forward Fabio Alves, who tallied 12 goals and added eight assists en route to earning Rookie of the Year and first-team All-Conference distinction.
Sage senior forward Scott Jarosz (Brunswick, ME/Brunswick) led the Skyline with 22 goals last season – including five game-winning tallies – for the ECAC champion Gators, who surrendered the fewest goals (17) in the league in 2012. MSMC welcomes back a pair of talented seniors in Sean Lockwood (22 points) and Matt Darling (seven shutouts) as it seeks to build upon its 11-win campaign a year ago.
Farmingdale State placed fourth in the poll with 59 points, followed by Maritime (38) and NYU-Poly (38), Old Westbury (34), Purchase (33), Mount Saint Vincent (16) and Yeshiva (12).
The quarterfinals of the six-team Skyline Men's Soccer Championship will be held on Saturday, November 2, with the semifinals scheduled for Wednesday, November 6. The title match will be played at Mount Saint Mary College (Newburgh, NY) on Saturday, November 9, as part of the Skyline Conference's Inaugural Fall Festival.
The Sage Colleges' men's soccer team will be taking to the field for the fourth season when the Gators step on the field for the 2013 season. At the helm of the men's soccer program at Sage is Kyle Clancy. The 2012 team captured the Eastern College Athletic Conference Upstate (ECAC) Division III Championship after the Gators went 14-5-1. The team set school records for most wins in a row (12) and most wins in a season (14) along the way.
Clancy boasts a 32-22-3 record in his three years at Sage and the Gators have appeared in the Skyline Conference Tournament in each of his previous three campaigns, while also earning bids to the ECAC Tournament in the last two seasons.
Sage will be home for eight of those 17 matches and opens the campaign on Friday, August 30 hosting the Wildcats of SUNY-IT at 4 p.m. at nearby Colonie High School (Albany, NY). The 2013 Gators will take to the field for 17 regular-season contests with hopes of garnering the 2013 Skyline Conference Champion and the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship.
2013 Skyline Preseason Coaches' Poll Points
1. St. Joseph's-L.I. 74 [4]
2. Sage 72 [4]
3. Mount Saint Mary 67 [2]
4. Farmingdale State 59
5. Maritime 38
(tie) NYU-Poly 38
7. Old Westbury 34
8. Purchase 33
9. Mount Saint Vincent 16
10. Yeshiva 12
First-place votes in parentheses