Q.U. Men’s Soccer Team Picked to Finish 2nd in GVLC

The University of Indianapolis men’s soccer team has been voted by the league coaches to win the 2014 Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship, it was announced by the conference office Wednesday. The Greyhounds, who finished the 2013 campaign with a 15-3-3 record, earned eight of the 16 first-place votes and 213 total points in the GLVC Men’s Soccer Preseason Poll.

Quincy University (204 points), Rockhurst University (198), Lewis University (189), and Drury University (170) rounded out the top five positions.  While Indianapolis was the clear favorite in terms of first-place votes, three other conference teams earned at least one vote from the conference coaches. Quincy garnered four first-place votes, while Rockhurst tallied three and Lewis earned one.

Quincy was just nine points shy of the top spot in the preseason poll and return eight starters in 2014, including five players who were honored regionally last year. The Hawks netted a 13-2 conference record to share the regular-season title with the Greyhounds based on winning percentage, and just missed out on their third NCAA Tournament appearance in four years, finishing 15-5 overall. Quincy led the conference in scoring with 50 total goals, led by junior Jordan Roberts, who totaled 14 goals. Other returnees include first-team All-GLVC honorees and seniors Ethan Venvertloh and Chris Garavaglia at forward and back, respectively, as well as sophomore midfielder Xhovani Dokaj – the 2013 GLVC Freshman of the Year.

The 16 GLVC men’s soccer teams will compete in a 15-game round-robin schedule during the regular season with the top eight teams earning a berth to the GLVC Championship Tournament. The top four seeds will host quarterfinal matches on campus on Nov. 2 with the four remaining teams heading to the site of the top remaining seed for the semifinals and final on Nov. 7 and 9.

The 2014 season officially gets underway on Thursday, Sept. 4, with seven schools in action, including Bellarmine, Lewis, Maryville, McKendree, Saint Joseph's, Southern Indiana, and UW-Parkside.

The complete 2014 GLVC Men’s Soccer Preseason Poll follows:

2014 GLVC Men’s Soccer Preseason Poll