By: GNAC and SFU Athletics
BURNABY, B.C. – The Simon Fraser Red Leafs garnered the most first-place votes and tied for top spot in the 2023 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Men's Soccer preseason coaches' poll.
SFU – which just returned from a tour of Norway – tied with Western Washington with 44 points. The Vikings had one first-place vote, while the remaining one went to Northwest Nazarene (Idaho), which placed third with 35 points. Seattle Pacific was fourth (30 pts.), Montana State Billings fifth (21 pts.) with Saint Martin's and Western Oregon tied for sixth with 11 points each.
Simon Fraser will look to go one better in the standings after finishing second in the conference with an 8-3-1 record last year (11-5-1 overall). The Red Leafs were one of the best defensive teams in the GNAC last season, tied for first in the conference with 17 goals allowed and second with just one goal allowed per game on average.
Simon Fraser is set to return a strong batch of starters despite losing a pair of all-conference selections in 2022 GNAC Player of the Year
Mark Talisuna and forward
Alan Soto. The Red Leafs have six members of the starting 11 back for 2023, including first team all-GNAC honouree
Devin O'Hea. A senior forward from North Vancouver, B.C., O'Hea ranked second on the team and was tied for sixth in the GNAC with 14 points. In 17 matches, he tallied six goals and three assists.
Senior defender
Niko Papakyriakopoulos returns to the back line after starting all 17 matches for SFU and earning Second Team All-GNAC honours. Papakyriakopoulos was not only a key part of the Red Leafs' defensive strategy, but also contributed to the offensive output, tallying 12 points on three goals and six assists.
SFU will play home exhibition games on Aug. 17, 19 and 23, before travelling south for a pair of contests at the Westmont Heritage Club Classic in Santa Barbara, California.
The first regular season home games for the Red Leafs will take place on September 7 vs. Chico State (California) at 6 p.m. and September 9 against Sonoma State (California) at 6 p.m.
| 2023 GNAC MEN'S SOCCER PRESEASON COACHES POLL |
| Rank |
Team (1st Place Votes) |
2022 |
GNAC Record (Finish) |
Points |
| T1. |
Simon Fraser (4) |
11-5-1 |
8-3-1 (2nd) |
44 |
| T1. |
Western Washington (2) |
12-4-3 |
8-4-0 (3rd) |
44 |
| 3. |
Northwest Nazarene (1) |
15-4-3 |
9-2-1 (1st) |
35 |
| 4. |
Seattle Pacific |
7-6-6 |
6-3-3 (4th) |
30 |
| 5. |
Montana State Billings |
5-9-3 |
3-6-3 (5th) |
21 |
| T6. |
Saint Martin's |
2-14-2 |
2-9-1 (6th) |
11 |
| T6. |
Western Oregon |
2-13-2 |
1-10-1 (7th) |
11 |
| Points awarded on a 7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. |
Season tickets can be purchased here:
https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/sfu-red-leafs-season-passes-men-womens-soccer-and-volleyball-tickets-680344246957
For the latest information on SFU Athletics, visit
athletics.sfu.ca. You can also find us on social media at @SFU_Athletics.
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