NEW YORK (Aug. 17, 2022) – Providence was selected by the league’s men’s soccer coaches to finish as the top team in the BIG EAST as the Conference announced the Preseason Coaches’ Poll and all-conference awards on Wednesday. Defending BIG EAST Champion Georgetown led the way with seven first-place votes, but the Friars edged the Hoyas by one point overall.
Butler’s Wilmer Cabrera, Jr. was voted BIG EAST Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, while Creighton’s Paul Kruse earned the preseason accolade of Goalkeeper of the Year. Preseason Defensive Player of the Year honors were split between Georgetown’s Daniel Wu and Providence’s Ramzi Qawasmy.
Providence, the BIG EAST championship runner-up, topped the preseason poll with 94 points and earned four first-place votes. The Hoyas followed suit with 93 points and the remaining seven first-place votes. The top-two projected teams faced off a trio of times in 2021, with Providence securing the lone regular-season meeting, 3-0, before the Hoyas earned a hard-fought overtime victory in the BIG EAST title game, 2-1. The pair later met in the NCAA Tournament with a quarterfinal bid on the line, and the Blue & Gray secured a 4-1 win at home.
The Friars are awarded the top spot in the preseason poll for the second time in program history, previously selected unanimously as the top team ahead of the 2017 campaign, an offseason removed from winning the 2016 regular season crown.
Entering the 2022 campaign ranked second in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Poll, Georgetown sits just behind the defending National Champions Clemson Tigers, following an 18-3-1 (8-2-0 BIG EAST) campaign. Trailing closely behind, Providence enters the season ranked No. 16 after finishing 12-5-4 (5-2-3 BE) last season.
Receiving a vote in the national poll, St. John’s checks in at third in the preseason conference coaches’ poll with 79 points, followed by Creighton at 71.
Rounding out the top six and separated by a single point includes 2021 BIG EAST semifinalists Butler (60 points) and Villanova (59 points).
The second half of the poll included Marquette in seventh with 49 points, UConn with 38, DePaul with 23 points, Seton Hall with 22 and Xavier with 17.
Creighton, Georgetown, Providence, St. John’s and Villanova were each NCAA Tournament teams last season, with all five capturing at least one win in the national spotlight. The Hoyas advanced the farthest, coming up short in the NCAA Semifinals.
A member of the 2021 All-BIG EAST First Team and United Soccer Coaches All-East Region First Team, Cabrera will once again look to lead the Bulldogs offensive attack in 2022. Ranking fourth in the conference with 27 shots in 10 league games, Cabrera notched eight points and three goals to rank eighth and fifth respectively among league leaders. Entering his fourth season in Indianapolis, the Bogota, Columbia, native is no stranger to BIG EAST hardware, claiming BIG EAST Freshman of the Year in 2019, before landing on the All-BIG EAST First Team twice and Second Team in 2019.
After sitting out the 2020-21 campaign due to an injury, Wu returned for the 2021 season to help lead the back line for the Hoyas. Selected to the All-BIG EAST Second Team, Wu earned 17 starts and notched four points (one goal, two assists), while Georgetown limited its opponents to just 17 goals in 2021. Overall, the Hoyas outshot their opponents 362 to 160, giving up just 7.3 shots per outing.
Sharing the honor with Wu is Qawasmy, who started in each of the 20 games he played for the Friars and logged 1,893 minutes in the backfield during the 2021 season. The defender helped the team compile seven shutouts on the season while holding opponents to an average of less than 10 shots per game. To conclude the season, he was named to the All-BIG EAST First Team and the United Soccer Coaches All-East Region First Team.
Kruse started each of the Bluejays' 19 contests in 2021, leading Creighton back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016. Overall, he played 1,722 of Creighton's 1,750 minutes on the pitch last season, posting five shutouts and 1.25 goals against average. In 10 league outings, he posted 45 saves to rank fourth among BIG EAST goalkeepers, while leading the conference with 81 saves overall and ranking third with a 0.771 save percentage.
A total of 11 student-athletes were named to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team, including Cabrera, Kruse, Qawasmy and Wu. Providence leads the way with three individuals on the list, followed by Creighton with two. Cabrera, Qawasmy and Wu were each unanimously voted to the team.
All-BIG EAST honors and preseason polls were decided by a vote of the league’s head coaches, who were not permitted to vote for their own team or players. The 2022 season gets underway on Thursday, Aug. 25. Conference action begins Friday, Sept. 16.
BIG EAST Men's Soccer Preseason Honors
Preseason Offensive Players of the Year
Wilmer Cabrera, Jr., Butler, Sr., F
Preseason Co-Defensive Player of the Year
Daniel Wu, Georgetown, Sr., D
Ramzi Qawasmy, Providence, Gr., D
Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year
Paul Kruse, Creighton, Gr., GK
Men’s Soccer Preseason All-BIG EAST
Wilmer Cabrera Jr., Butler, Sr., F ^
Lukas Sunesson, Marquette, Sr., F
Gevork Diarbian, Providence, Jr., F
Lyam MacKinnon, Villanova, Sr., F
Mateo Leveque, UConn, So., M
Charles Auguste, Creighton, Sr., M
Luis Garcia, Providence, Sr., M
Daniel Wu, Georgetown, Sr., D ^
Ramzi Qawasmy, Providence, Gr., D ^
Brandon Knapp, St. John’s, Gr., D
Paul Kruse, Creighton, Gr., GK
^Unanimous vote
Men’s Soccer Preseason Coaches’ Poll
First Place votes in () |
|
| 1. Providence (4) |
94 points |
|
| 2. Georgetown (7) |
93 |
|
| 3. St. John’s |
79 |
|
| 4. Creighton |
71 |
|
| 5. Butler |
60 |
|
| 6. Villanova |
59 |
|
|
| 7. Marquette |
49 |
|
| 8. UConn |
38 |
|
| 9. DePaul |
23 |
|
| 10. Seton Hall |
22 |
|
| 11. Xavier |
17 |
|