OKLAHOMA CITY – With the release of the Sooner Athletic Conference men’s soccer preseason poll on Friday, Mid-America Christian was selected as the favorite by the league’s 10 head coaches.
The Evangels, who won the 2020-21 SAC Tournament title and picked up a pair of wins in the NAIA Championship Opening Round to advance to the NAIA Championship final site, received 78 points and notched six first-place votes.
MACU, who finished second in the SAC standings last season with a 6-1-1 conference mark and 15-4-3 overall, came on strong late in the season, defeating Central Christian 3-0 in a postgame shootout after playing to a 0-0 draw in the SAC Championship match.
Mid-America Christian won another nail biter in PK’s in its first match at the NAIA Opening Round, topping Morningside (Iowa) 4-2 after ending in a 2-2 draw followed by a thrilling 3-2 victory over Bethel (Tenn.) on Mandela Singh-Share’s golden goal in the 109th minute.
Southwestern Christian, the 2020-21 SAC regular-season champion, finished second in the standing with 75 points and earned four first-place votes. The Eagles edged out the Evangels for the regular season title with a 7-1-1 conference mark and went 11-2-4 overall on the year after bowing out to Briar Cliff (Iowa) in the NAIA Opening Round.
With 55 points in the poll, Oklahoma City edged out Science & Arts for third as the Drovers placed a point behind with 54, while John Brown garnered the fifth spot with 52 points.
Wayland Baptist racked up 47 points to come in sixth, Panhandle State placed right behind in with 32 points and SAC Tournament runner-up Central Christian closed out the top eight with 25 points.
Texas Wesleyan took ninth with 21 points while Southwestern Assemblies of God rounded out the preseason standing with 11 points.
The Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament will run from Nov. 5-11. The top four seeds will host the quarterfinal round on Nov. 5, the highest remaining seeds will host the semifinals and the final. The semis will be played on Nov. 8 and will culminate with the championship match on Nov. 11.
The NAIA Championship Opening Round will be played from Nov. 18-20 while the final rounds will be played from Nov. 30-Dec. 6.
| 2021 Sooner Athletic Conference Preseason Men’s Soccer Poll |
| No. |
Team |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
Pts. |
| 1. |
Mid-America Christian |
6 |
3 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
78 |
| 2. |
Southwestern Christian |
4 |
4 |
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
75 |
| 3. |
Oklahoma City |
|
1 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
|
|
|
55 |
| 4. |
Science & Arts |
|
|
5 |
2 |
|
1 |
1 |
|
|
54 |
| 5. |
John Brown |
|
1 |
|
4 |
4 |
|
|
|
|
52 |
| 6. |
Wayland Baptist |
|
1 |
|
2 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
47 |
| 7. |
Panhandle State |
|
|
|
1 |
|
4 |
2 |
2 |
|
32 |
| 8. |
Central Christian |
|
|
|
|
1 |
1 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
25 |
| 9. |
Texas Wesleyan |
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
21 |
| 10. |
SW Assemblies of God |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2 |
7 |
11 |