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MURFREESBORO – Fresh off the best season in program history, Chowan University has been picked to win the regular season title in the 2022 Men’s Soccer Preseason Coaches’ Poll.

The conference office in Greenville, SC officially unveiled the preseason poll on Aug. 17. The preseason poll was voted on by the league’s head coaches.

Chowan finished the 2021 season 13-4-2 overall and 9-1-1 in league play and won the conference tournament. The Hawks earned the program’s first NCAA win with a thrilling upset of Nova Southeastern, 13-12, in penalty kicks.

In the pre-season poll, the Hawks garnered seven first-place votes and 116 points, one better than 2021 regular season champion and tournament runner-up Francis Marion. The Patriots, who were 12-5-2 overall in 2021 and 10-0-1 in conference play, collected the final five first-place tallies and 115 points.

Mount Olive was picked to finish third with 87 points followed by Belmont Abbey (77), North Greenville (75), Barton (73), Lees-McRae (64), Converse (62), Emmanuel (40), Southern Wesleyan (38), King (25) and Erskine (20).

The 2022 regular season gets underway on Thursday, Aug. 25 with conference play beginning on Sept. 7.

The first two rounds of the conference tournament will take place on campus sites at the higher seeds on Oct. 26 and 29. The semifinals and championship, Nov. 4 and 6, will be played at Bryan Park in Browns Summit, NC.