St. Louis, MO, 2/26/21 – The Westminster College men's soccer team was picked to finish fifth in the 2021 SLIAC men's soccer race by the league's coaches on Thursday. The defending conference and post season tournament champion Webster University Gorloks received seven first place votes and 49 poll points as they were picked to repeat. Spalding University finished second in the poll with the other first place vote and 43 points. Greenville University with 33 points and Fontbonne University with 30 points finished just ahead of the Blue Jays 29 points, for third and fourth place. Blackburn College with 18 points and Principia with 15 points finished in sixth and seventh place respectively. Eureka College rounded out the poll in eighth place with seven points.
Head Coach Adam Galla's young Blue Jays will have to overcome the loss of 12 seniors from a year ago that helped lead the Jays to an 8-5-1 overall record and a 5-4-1 SLIAC record that was good for a fourth-place finish. The Blue Jays would then advance to the SLIAC Postseason Tournament Championship. The Blue Jays return SLIAC Second Team All-Conference junior midfielder Freddy Nene (Columbia, MO / Rock Bridge), senior midfielder Joe Wilder (Jefferson City, MO / Jefferson City), forward Andrew Sprengel (Winfield, MO / Winfield) and seasoned senior defender Barrett Smith (Columbia, MO / Rock Bridge) who will try to lead their squad to a SLIAC championship. The returners will be bolstered by a talented 15-man freshmen recruiting class to help the Blue Jays in their quest for the title.
The Blue Jays will kick off the season at home on Wednesday September 1st when they welcome the Trojans of Hannibal LaGrange University for a 7:00 p.m. kick off at Kent and Judith Mueller Stadium. The complete SLIAC Men's Soccer Preseason Coaches Poll can be found HERE.
2021 SLIAC Men's Soccer Preseason Coaches Poll
Webster (7) 49
Spalding (1) 43
Greenville 33
Fontbonne 30
Westminster 29
Blackburn 18
Principia 15
Eureka 7
