BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva College men's soccer team was picked fourth in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) preseason poll that was released on Thursday, as voted on by the coaches.  Reigning PAC Champion Grove City was named the preseason favorite after receiving 11 of 12 first place votes.

The men are coming off a season in which they finished 5-4-2 in the PAC, 7-10-2 overall.  The men's soccer program has maintained a remarkable stretch of success under 17-year Head Coach Gary Dunda, never suffering a losing record in conference play under his tenure with a tremendous 85-24-21 (.735 winning percentage) record in PAC play since joining the conference in 2011.  In fact, the Golden Tornadoes have advanced to at least the PAC Semifinals in 13 of the 15 seasons while competing in the PAC.

Coach Dunda has several holes to fill from last year's roster after seeing one of the most successful and talented group of seniors in recent program history graduate at the end of the season.  Four players from this year's roster, junior Luke Main and sophomores Msafiri Amisi, Travis Miller and Logan Pappert, were highlighted by the PAC as Players to Watch for the Golden Tornadoes heading into the season.

Amisi is back after earning Second Team All-PAC honors while developing into one of the most dangerous attacking players in the conference in his first season in college.  Pappert also returns after earning Honorable Mention All-PAC honors as an outside back.  Pappert rarely came off the field last year, starting all 19 games and playing the second-most minutes of any player on the roster.  Main started almost every game in Geneva's midfield, while Miller finished second on the team with four goals in his inaugural season.

Geneva also returns two more regulars from last year's squad in sophomores Nick Lo Coco and Luke Kost who will undoubtedly step into a larger role this year.  Kost was an offensive spark off the bench, scoring three goals and adding two assists, while Lo Coco was a steady presence in the midfield.

In the net, sophomore goalkeepers Noah Buchanan and Ian Lewis are also back after both spending time in the net last year.

The Golden Tornadoes have a very young squad this year, with just one senior, Collin Yeatts, and four juniors in Main, Cooper Bouslough, Paul Permyashkin and Colin Shea.  In fact, 21 of the 26 players on this year's roster are either freshmen or sophomores.  Main and Bouslough were named the captains of this year's team.

Coach Dunda has ten freshmen joining the program this year, several of which will likely see immediate playing time.

The Golden Tornadoes will open the season at Marietta on Tuesday, September 1, at 4:30 p.m.  The men will open the home portion of their schedule with the Nate Ferraco Classic on September 4 and 5, hosting Calvin and Baldwin Wallace on back-to-back days.  As is the norm, Coach Dunda has put together a challenging non-conference slate in preparation for the start of PAC play on September 16 at Allegheny.