West Chester Men Begin 2019 Ranked Fourth By United Soccer Coaches In Its Preseason Poll

KANSAS CITY, Mo.  – Fresh off its first trip to the NCAA Division II national semifinals last winter, West Chester University's men's soccer team is ranked fourth in the United Soccer Coaches preseason national poll released late Tuesday afternoon.
 
West Chester is coming off a 16-3-5 campaign in 2018 where the Golden Rams made a postseason push that carried them all the way to the national championship game. Head coach Michael Benn returns 13 players and six starters to a group that has won back-to-back regular season conference titles while racking up an impressive 18-1-3 mark against conference foes over that stretch.
 
Defending national champion, Barry University, is the preseason favorite. Barry defeated West Chester, 2-1, in the national championship game last December. Cal Poly Pomona, which the Golden Rams downed in overtime in the semifinals, is the No. 2 team in the first poll of the season while Fort Hays State, which lost to Barry in the other semifinal in Pittsburgh, is the No. 3-ranked squad heading into 2019.
 
Benn has built West Chester men's soccer into one of the perennial powers in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) over his five-year tenure on the sidelines. The Golden Rams have qualified for the conference tournament in each of the last three years and have never been seeded lower than second.
 
Junior striker, Doug Gotia (Mt. Pocono, Pa./Pocono Mountain East), tied for the team lead in scoring a year ago with 19 points. His eight tallies ranked second on the squad as well. Gotia is the lone All-PSAC selection returning in September.
 
West Chester opens its 2019 slate on Thursday, Sept. 5 at 4 p.m. at Jefferson University. The Golden Rams play their first two games on the road, before lifting the lid on their home slate Friday, Sept. 13 against Georgian Court.