Corban's Men Soccer Tabbed as Team to Beat in CCC

The Warriors welcome back all 11 starters from last year's championship squad.

The Cascade Collegiate Conference office announced on Tuesday that Corban University is the coaches' preseason favorite to win the 2014 CCC men's soccer title, with the Warriors capturing all eight first-place votes. Image Courtesy: Corban Athletics

(SALEM, Ore. ) - The Cascade Collegiate Conference office announced on Tuesday that Corban University is the coaches' preseason favorite to win the 2014 CCC men's soccer title, with the Warriors capturing all eight first-place votes.

The defending CCC champions earned a perfect 64 points in the poll following one of the best seasons in program history last year.

The 2013 campaign saw the Warriors clinch their first CCC Conference Championship since 1998 with an 11-1-2 record in conference action and a 16-2-2 mark overall. Corban also went on to win the CCC Conference Postseason Tournament in 2013, marking the first time it had accomplished that feat since 1997.

"While it's an honor to have the respect of other really quality programs in our conference, I can't think of too many things less relevant to a season than a preseason poll," said head men's soccer coach Aaron Lewis. "Our guys have to get better daily if we are going to get to where we want to be."

Now in his second season at the helm of the Warriors, Lewis welcomes back all 11 starters from last year's championship squad.

Key returners include sophomore midfielder Kemar Prince (Kingston, Jamaica), senior forward Arsinio Walker (Kingston, Jamaica), and sophomore goalkeeper Jordan Farr (Turner, Ore.).

Prince and Walker accounted for 13 goals and seven assists between the two last year, while Farr registered an impressive 0.71 goals-against-average and tallied 61 saves.

Junior defender James Williamson (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) also returns after a phenomenal season in which he captained the squad and proved to be the lynchpin of the defense.

In addition, sophomore forward Bobby Hutchin (Vancouver, Wash.) returns for the Warriors after finding the back of the net on six occasions during his rookie campaign.

Concordia University earned 56 points and was picked to finish second by all of the CCC coaches after they completed the 2013 season with an 11-3 record in CCC play and a 15-5 mark overall. Northwest University (13-6, 11-3 CCC) was picked third with 46 points.

The top four teams in the CCC's final regular-season standings will earn spots in the conference's postseason tournament, set to begin with the semifinals on November 11 and the championship contest on November 15. Matches will be held on the campus sites.

The CCC's postseason tournament champion will earn the conference's automatic bid to the NAIA National Championships, slated to begin on November 22.

Source: Corban Athletics