Maryland in Decisive 3-0 Win Over Akron in Preseason Soccer Opener; Terps Second in NSCAA Poll

BALTIMORE, Maryland August 19, 2014 - Junior Defenseman David Kabelik scored twice, and fellow Junior Mael Corboz hammered home a penalty kick as No. 2 Maryland easily handled No. 13 Akron, a National Champion just four years ago. All three scores came in the first half, while the second half was scoreless.

In the preseason NSCAA soccer poll posted at the NCAA.com, Maryland is ranked second behind Notre Dame, and received the only first place vote not earned by the Irish. The Irish edged Maryland is a terribly officiated title game that the Terps would have won were it not for some brain dead no-calls. The official responsible for the embarassment has never publicly apologized for the debacle. Anyway, Maryland received 471 points to 497 for Notre Dame. Virginia is third, followed by UCLA (huh?) in fourth. UMBC is 19th and Navy is 25th. Here is the entire top 25 and others receiving votes:

NJCAA Preseason Top 25
1. Notre Dame: 497 points
2. Maryland: 471 points
3. Virginia: 435 points
4. UCLA: 404 points
5. New Mexico: 393 points
6. Washington: 392 points
7. California: 370 points
8. Connecticut: 360 points
9. Georgetown: 340 points
10. Michigan State: 333 points
11. Wake Forest: 294 points
12. Marquette: 255 points
13. Akron: 254 points
14. Louisville: 200 points
15. Penn State: 162 points
16. UC Irvine: 157 points
17. Coastal Carolina: 151 points
18, UC Santa Barbara: 143 points
19. UMBC: 134 points
20. Stanford: 133 points
21. Wisconsin: 119 points
22. North Carolina: 77 points
23. Charlotte: 64 points
24. Cal State Northridge: 49 points
25. Navy: 34 points
25. Old Dominion: 34 points

Others receiving votes: VCU 30, Clemson 25, UAB 20, Delaware 19, Elon 17, Creighton 14, George Mason 12, Indiana 11, Duke 11, Saint Louis 10, St. John's 10, Michigan 9, Syracuse 8, Northwestern 8, Tulsa 5, South Florida 3, Milwaukee 2, Bradley 2, William & Mary 1, Denver 1, Monmouth 1.

A web site called College Sports Madness selected a Preseason All-Conference Team that included only two Terps on the first team (Dan Metzger and Mikey Ambrose) and three on the second team (Tsubassa Endoh, Alex Crognale and Zack Steffen).