Fairfield Men’s Soccer Tops Preseason Poll; Quinnipiac’s Eamon Whelan Dubbed Preseason Player of the Year
EDISON, N.J. – The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) announced Fairfield University was picked the 2019 men’s soccer preseason favorite and Quinnipiac University’s Eamon Whelan was named the Preseason Player of the Year, as voted by the league’s 11 head coaches.
Fairfield (11-5-2, 8-0-2 MAAC) went undefeated in conference play during the 2018 regular season before falling to Rider University in the semifinals of the MAAC Championship. The Stags return the 2018 conference Defensive Player of the Year and Goalkeeper of the Year in Jonas Vergin and Gordon Botterill.
Quinnipiac was voted into second place (98 points), Rider in third (96) and Marist College fourth (87). Manhattan College rounded out the top-five (82).
Whelan headlines the preseason honors after leading the MAAC in points (27), points per game (1.69), goals (12) and goals per game (0.75) in the 2018 regular season. The senior adds Preseason Player of the Year to his list of career accolades after picking up MAAC Offensive Player of the Year and First Team All-MAAC honors in 2018 and MAAC Rookie of the Year in 2016. Whelan was the only player unanimously selected to the 2019 Preseason All-MAAC Team.
Quinnipiac’s Jeppe Haehre joins his teammate on the Preseason All-MAAC Team. Fairfield leads the conference with three Preseason All-MAAC selections in Vergin, Botterill and Matt McGlinchey. Manhattan and Marist are both represented with two selections. Berti Fourrier and Adrien Awana represent the Jaspers, while Allen Gavilanes and Samad Bounthong make the list for the Red Foxes. Rider’s Sylvain Coco and Saint Peter’s University’s Jordan Jowers complete the team.
The 2019 MAAC Men’s Soccer Championship kicks off on Sunday, Nov. 10, hosted by the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds. Semifinals, hosted by the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, are set for Nov. 14. The Championship Game will be hosted by the highest remaining seed on Nov. 17.
Below is the full poll and preseason honors list:
Preseason Player of the Year
Eamon Whelan – Quinnipiac
| Preseason All-MAAC Team |
| Player |
Position |
Institution |
| Eamon Whelan* |
Forward |
Quinnipiac |
| Allen Gavilanes |
Forward |
Marist |
| Berti Fourrier |
Forward |
Manhattan |
| Samad Bounthong |
Midfield |
Marist |
| Matt McGlinchey |
Midfield |
Fairfield |
| Jordan Jowers |
Midfield |
Saint Peter’s |
| Adrien Awana |
Back |
Manhattan |
| Jeppe Haehre |
Back |
Quinnipiac |
| Jonas Vergin |
Back |
Fairfield |
| Sylvain Coco |
Back |
Rider |
| Gordon Botterill |
Goalkeeper |
Fairfield |
* = Unanimous selection
| Preseason Coaches’ Poll |
| Fairfield (4) |
107 |
| Quinnipiac (1) |
98 |
| Rider (2) |
96 |
| Marist (2) |
87 |
| Manhattan (2) |
82 |
| Iona |
73 |
| Saint Peter’s |
50 |
| Monmouth |
46 |
| Canisius |
41 |
| Siena |
31 |
| Niagara |
15 |
About the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
With 11 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) is in its 39
th year of competition during the 2019-20 academic year. Current conference members include: Canisius College, Fairfield University, Iona College, Manhattan College, Marist College, Monmouth University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Saint Peter’s University, and Siena College.