Men's soccer picked to finish sixth in fall 2021 HCAC preseason poll
The Defiance College men’s soccer team placed sixth in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference preseason poll as announced by the league office on Wednesday morning.
CARMEL, Ind. - The Defiance College men's soccer team placed sixth in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference preseason poll as announced by the league office on Wednesday morning.
The Yellow Jackets, under third-year head coach Cory Bucur, finished with 40 points in the poll, nine behind fifth-place Anderson University. Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology was picked to finish first with 76 points and five first-place votes edging out Hanover College who tallied 73 points and the remaining five first-place votes. Transylvania University (66 points) and Manchester University (55 points) placed third and fourth respectively.
Defiance also had four players named Players to Watch. Earning spots on the watchlist were a trio of midfielders in senior Jeremy Jimenez (Cape Coral, Fla./Cape Coral), senior Chase Stiner (St. Joseph, Ill./St. Joseph-Ogden), and junior Noah Svanberg (Grand Rapids, Ohio/Otsego). Also earning a spot on the watchlist was junior goalkeeper Orry Killam (Napoleon, Ohio/Liberty Center).
Jimenez appeared in six games last season, scoring a goal. Stiner made four starts last season for the Purple and Gold and tallied three points off a goal and an assist. His goal came in the regular-season finale against Earlham and was the game-winner. Svanberg, who was recently named the team captain, has logged 17 points in his career stemming from six goals and five assists.
Killam made eight appearances in goal last season and recorded 32 saves, three shutouts, and one combined shutout.
Defiance will open the 2021 fall season with a home match against Heidelberg on September 1 at 4 p.m.