Men’s soccer figures to be close in 2019

The men's soccer season kicks off later this week and the SID's gathered their notes to conduct a preseason prediction.  The order of finish was very close, with Southwestern College coming out on top by a razor-thin margin.

The Pacific Coast Athletic Conference will have a bit of a different look this season with both San Bernardino Valley College and College of the Desert leaving the conference to join the Inland Empire Conference.  With seven teams remaining, the sports information directors cast their ballots this week.

Finishing atop the voting was Southwestern College, who picked up two first place votes.  The Jaguars finished in sixth place in the PCAC a year ago, going 6-14-2 overall and 6-8-2 in conference play.  Kyo Adachi and Abraham Negrete are both expected to return after making the all-conference team last season.

San Diego City collected just one first place vote, but on the strength of solid voting throughout was chosen to finish second in the PCAC.  The Knights finished in fourth place in conference play last year, finishing 8-6-5 overall and 6-5-5 in PCAC play.  San Diego City had two all-conference players from the 2018 squad in Dalton Kinney and Gustavo Velasquez, but it is unclear as to whether or not they will return to the squad this fall.

Finishing two points out of the top spot was San Diego Mesa, who collected a pair of second place votes and a pair of third place votes.  The Olympians finished in seventh place in PCAC play last season, finishing 6-10-3 overall and 5-8-3 in conference play.  San Diego Mesa had a freshman-dominated lineup a year ago, and with key components returning are expected to have a more grizzled lineup this fall.

The final two first place votes went to Cuyamaca College, who finished in a tie for fourth place in the voting with MiraCosta College.  Cuyamaca was a third place finisher in the conference last year, trailing only Desert and San Bernardino Valley (who are now gone).  The Coyotes are the only remaining team in the conference to have qualified for the playoffs last season, finishing 9-6-7 overall and 8-3-5 in PCAC play.  If all-conference selections Jonathan Rebolledo and Guillermo Bermudez return, the Coyotes figure to be tough. 

MiraCosta had a pair of third and fourth place votes cast by the SID's, putting them in a tie for fourth place in the voting with Cuyamaca.  The Spartans finished in fifth place a season ago with a 7-10-3 overall record and a 7-6-3 finish in conference play.  MiraCosta returns Manuell Kariuki to the pitch this fall after making the All-PCAC team last year.

PCAC Sports Information Poll