New York, NY--- The Skyline Conference announced the 2012 Men's Soccer Pre-Season Poll on Thursday afternoon. The Sage College Gators, which advanced to the league's semifinals in 2011 have been picked third with the release of the poll.

Defending regular-season champion St. Joseph's-L.I. has been selected to capture the 2012 Skyline men's soccer crown in voting conducted by the league's ten head coaches. The Golden Eagles earned seven first-place votes and amassed 77 points, while Maritime garnered a pair of first-place votes and 71 overall points. The Sage Colleges finished third with one first-place vote and 64 points, followed by NYU-Poly (57), Mount Saint Mary (45), Old Westbury (42), Farmingdale State (36), Purchase (32), Mount Saint Vincent (17) and Yeshiva (9).

After posting a perfect 9-0-0 mark in Skyline play in 2011, SJC welcomes back senior standout John Dettori, who led the league in goals (26) and points (59) last season en route to earning Skyline Player of the Year distinction. Two-time defending champion Maritime returns senior Ryan Nugent, who started 20 contests and tallied seven goals and 15 points in 2011.

Sage returns 10 letterwinners from last year's team, which also earned a spot in the 2011 Eastern College Athletic Conference Metro NY-NJ Tournament and finished the season with an 11-8-1 mark. Now in his third season, head coach Kyle Clancy leads the Gators and has already guided the team to back-to-back Skyline Conference Tournament appearances in the program's young tenure.  

The quarterfinals of the six-team Skyline Men's Soccer Championship will be held on October 27, with the semifinals scheduled for October 31. The title match will be played on November 3.

2012 Skyline Preseason Coaches' Poll Points

1. St. Joseph's-L.I. 77 [7]

2. Maritime 71 [2]

3. The Sage Colleges 64 [1]

4. NYU-Poly 57

5. Mount Saint Mary 45

6. Old Westbury 42

7. Farmingdale State 36

8. Purchase 32

9. Mount Saint Vincent 17

10. Yeshiva 9

First-place votes in parentheses