The Benedictine men’s soccer team will start off their 2014 campaign ranked inside the top 15 as the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) released the preseason NAIA Top 25 Coaches’ Poll on Tuesday.
Coming off a 11-4-3 campaign a season ago, the Ravens and head coach Rob Herringer earned 351 points in the preseason poll and will start the season off at No. 13 up one spot from their 2013 postseason ranking.
Benedictine is joined in the preseason poll by three other Heart of America Athletic Conference schools as Baker University is ranked No. 8, MNU is ranked No. 11 and Missouri Valley College is ranked No. 15.
Along with the three conference schools ranked in the preseason poll, several other 2014 Raven opponents were either ranked or listed in the others receiving votes category to start of the season.
Grand View (Iowa), who will join the Heart for the 2015 season, is ranked No. 12 and will travel to Atchison and the BC Soccer Complex for a non-con match on Sept. 27.
While Grand View is on the Ravens only non-con opponent to appear inside the Top 25, three more non-con opponents received votes.
Texas at Brownsville, the Ravens Aug. 30 opponent, received 40 points. McPherson College, the Ravens Aug. 28 opponent, received 19 points and Bellevue University, the Ravens Sept. 5 opponent, received 3 points.
The Ravens play three preseason scrimmages before traveling to McPherson to take on the Bulldogs at 7:30 p.m.
While the regular-season home opener is on Sept. 5 against Bellevue, the Ravens do host two of their three scrimmages on Friday against Iowa Western CC at 7 p.m. and the annual Fall Alumni Match at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
The Benedictine women’s soccer team will start off the 2014 season where they left off 2013 – as the lone ranked representative from the Heart of America Athletic Conference.
Benedictine, who is coming off a 11-6-2 campaign and the 2013 Heart Championship, will start off the season at No. 24 the exact ranking they appeared in the 2013 Postseason National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Top 25 Coaches’ Poll.
While the Ravens might be the lone ranked Heart school to start of the season, the Ravens non-con schedule has several schools who are ranked.
John Brown (Ark.) University, the Ravens Sept. 20 opponent, is ranked No. 22 and Hastings College, the Ravens Sept. 23 opponent, is ranked No. 23.
Missouri Valley College is the only other Heart school mentioned in the poll, listed in the others receiving votes category with 19 points. Additionally, the Ravens Sept. 16 opponent, Ottawa University, was also listed in the others receiving votes category with six points.
The Ravens open the season on the road Sunday with a trip to Fulton, Mo., to take on William Woods University at 6:30 p.m. They host and exhibition with Cowley College at 7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 25 before taking on Park University at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 2 in their regular-season home opener.
— BC Sports Information —