Coastal Carolina men’s soccer ranked 21st in a national coaches’ poll

For the fifth consecutive year, the Coastal Carolina University men’s soccer team will open the season ranked among the top 25 teams in the nation.

The Chanticleers are No. 21 in the 2016 preseason National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) poll. Defending national champion Stanford is No. 1.

Four of CCU’s 2016 regular-season opponents are ranked in the poll (No. 3 Clemson, No. 17 Virginia, No. 22 Charlotte and No. 24 South Carolina), while two additional opponents received votes (Radford and Virginia Commonwealth). The Chants open the season Aug. 26 at seven-time national champion Virginia and debut at home on Sept. 2 against VCU. The Chanticleers begin fall training on Aug. 10.

Coastal is coming off a 13-win season that was highlighted by a program-best ranking of fourth for two weeks in late September and early October and final ranking of 20th.

Veteran head coach Shaun Docking returns 10 lettermen and five starters as the program plays its inaugural season in the Sun Belt Conference. Returners Louis Dargent, Elis Bjornsson and Einar Einarsson earned All-Big South Conference second team honors while Jair Espinoza was a conference all-freshman team selection.

This story was originally published August 2, 2016 at 7:59 PM with the headline "Coastal Carolina men’s soccer ranked 21st in a national coaches’ poll."