Men's Soccer selected to finish sixth in PAC

Andrew Woodley, Sports Information Director

GREENVILLE, Pa. (Aug. 25) – Coming off of the heels of its best season since 2011 and an appearance in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Tournament, the Bethany College Men's Soccer team was predicted to finish sixth in the league's annual preseason coaches' poll announced Friday afternoon.

Geneva, last season's PAC Champion, was selected as the preseason-favorite by the league's nine coaches. Thomas More, Grove City, Washington & Jefferson, and Westminster rounded out the top-five selections.

The Bison will return three of its top five goal scorers from last year, including All-PAC Second Team selection Adam Franco (Inglewood, Calif./Carter), who finished in a tie for third on the team with three goals. He ended the season and slotted third with three assists and ranked fourth on the team with nine points.

Franco will be joined by sophomore Baboucar Sallah-Mohammed (Arlington, Va./Fishburne Military) and junior Daniel Booth (Stockport, England/Poynton), who each had busy spring seasons. Sallah-Mohammed was the team's second-leading goal scorer a year ago with six goals and two assists (14 points), and wrapped up a decorated track season by winning the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Outdoor Championship in the long jump. Booth returns to the squad after tying for third on the team with three goals last year, while starting 19 or 20 games for the Bison. He took his talents to the lacrosse team in the spring, where he tallied 12 goals and nine assists in 15 contests.

Ninth-year Head Coach Sean Regan will have to find replacements for his most productive player, Jack Waters, and his goalkeeper Callum Appleby, who both graduated. Waters was a first-team all-conference selection last year and ranked fourth in the PAC with 25 points, while leading the league with 11 assists. Meanwhile, Applyby was an all-conference performer as well and was a mainstay in the Bison net over the past four seasons.

Bethany opens the season on Saturday, September 2 when they head to Defiance, Ohio to participate in the two-day Purple and Gold Classic. The Bison will face Cincinnati-Clermont on September 2 at 3 p.m. and conclude the weekend with a match against the hosts, Defiance, on Sunday, September 3 at 3 p.m.