On the heels of winning their first title in the 110-year history of the conference, the Occidental College Tigers have been picked to repeat according to the 2024 SCIAC Men’s Soccer Preseason Poll, as voted by the league’s head coaches.
The Tigers enter the season ranked No. 14 in the nation after a run to the third round of the NCAA Championship, where they fell in double overtime at host Amherst College following a statement 4-1 regional win at Trinity (Texas) University. Oxy claimed its first SCIAC Tournament title behind a characteristic full-team performance that had carried Coaching Staff of the Year Rod Lafaurie’s squad to the regular season title by a single point. The league’s joint-stingiest defense and second-ranked offense proved to be nigh insurmountable as eight players were recognized with All-Conference honors, five of which are back in 2024. Super-sub Andrew Notter is the lone returning First Team selection after tying for third in the SCIAC in goals scored in addition to four scored in postseason play, including a brace against Trinity and eventual game-winners over the Tigers and in the SCIAC Tournament semifinal. Second Team picks Oury Diane, Vicente Navarro, Max Stanley and Riley Nyhan lead a deep roster that also includes 2023 All-Conference honoree Tyler Na-Nakornpanom.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges also received two first-place votes as the apparent favorite to topple the Tigers. First Team duo Shaan Malik and Rafael Otero were joined last season by James Gomez, a Second Team choice and one of only two All-Conference rookies who tied for eighth with 1.17 points per game. The Stags suffered only three defeats in conference play last season with five victories and four ties.
The University of Redlands made the SCIAC Tournament final for the seventh time in nine years thanks to the conference’s joint-best defense and top-scoring offense, as reflected in the selection of Jarette Barajas as the Offensive Athlete of the Year. Phillip Kostenko also was tabbed Second Team All-Conference last season.
Having made their third straight SCIAC Tournament appearance, California Lutheran University is expected to be among the field once again with two-time All-Conference honoree JP Melgoza continuing to pull strings in the midfield. Chapman University was the SCIAC champion as recently as 2022 and welcomes back two-time First Team defender Jackson Busby as the Panthers garnered the final first-place vote. The 2024 season brings an expanded tournament field of five teams and the Preseason Poll clearly separates at that mark, with the Panthers four points shy of fourth place but a whopping 19 clear of sixth.
Lurking just on the outside of the playoff picture are a pair of dangerous teams with two of the most imposing duos of any roster. Pomona-Pitzer Colleges saw Niclas Ulrich elevated his game from Second Team recognition in 2022 to make the First Team last season alongside Newcomer of the Year Keyon Namdar. The Sagehens’ Kyle Lau and Giri Mase also made All-Conference appearances on the First Team in 2021 and Second Team in 2022, respectively. also Caltech’s offensive pairing of two-time First Team forward Ishaan Mantripragada and 2022 Newcomer of the Year Etienne Casanova combined for 3.25 points per game in conference play, ranking first and fourth, respectively with more than half a goal per-game contribution than any other conference pairing.
The University of La Verne slotted just two points shy of Caltech with Second Team All-SCIAC forward Adan Villareal slated to return along with 2022 Second Teamers Matthew Logan Reese and Joel Trejo. Whittier College also boasts an imposing duo in First Teamer Lawrence Dydell (second in points per game) and Second Team pick Rowan Slater.
The season begins on Friday, Aug. 30 with seven teams taking the field at the first opportunity and everyone getting in a game by the following day, with many playing doubleheaders on the opening weekend. The first conference matchup of the season in set for Wednesday, Sept. 11 as Pomona-Pitzer takes the three-mile trip to La Verne for a 7 p.m. kickoff and the rest of the conference picking up the following week.
2024 SCIAC Men’s Soccer Preseason Poll
1. Occidental, 77 points (6 first-place votes)
2. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 68 pts (2)
3. Redlands, 64 pts
4. California Lutheran, 53 pts
5. Chapman, 49 pts (1)
6. Pomona-Pitzer, 30 pts
7. Caltech, 26 pts
8. La Verne, 24 pts
9. Whittier, 14 pts
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