ROCK HILL, S.C. --- The Tusculum University men's soccer team has been picked to finish ninth in the annual South Atlantic Conference preseason coaches poll, the league announced Tuesday.

Senior midfielder Mo Bouta was the Pioneers' lone representative on the preseason All-Conference team, earning first-team status in voting by the league's media relations offices.

The Pioneers tied for eighth last season with a 3-5-3 conference record, and ended the 2023 campaign with an 8-5-3 overall record. First-year head coach Kyle Hughes returns six starters from last year's squad, which finished third in the conference in goals against average at 0.94.

Bouta was a second-team All-SAC selection last season after collecting four goals in 14 matches (13 starts). A native of Berkane, Morocco, Bouta was third on the team in goals and had a team-high 29 shot attempts. He was selected team Most Valuable Player following the season, and scored three of his four goals in conference play.

Defending SAC Tournament champion Limestone had eight first-place votes from the conference's 12 head coaches and took the top spot in the preseason poll with 117 points, followed by Wingate with three first-place votes and 112 points. Lenoir-Rhyne was third with 94 points, with Lincoln Memorial in fourth with 85 points and Coker in fifth with 76 points.

Catawba took sixth in the poll with 65 points, trailed closely by Anderson (63 points) and Carson-Newman (62 points). The Pioneers, who earned a first-place vote in the poll, had 47 points for ninth place, with Mars Hill (38 points), Newberry (22) and Emory & Henry (11) rounding out the survey.

The Pioneers will kick off the 2024 season on Saturday, Sept. 7 at 5 p.m. against King at Pioneer Field.

2024 SAC Men's Soccer Preseason Poll

2024 SAC Men's Soccer Preseason All-Conference Teams
First Team
F – Kosi Mafela, Wingate
F – Claudel N'Goubou, Limestone
F – Pablo Pozos, Wingate
F – Peter Plougmand, Mars Hill
MF – Mo Bouta, Tusculum
MF – Julian Caro Sepulveda, Anderson
MF – Salano Birch, Catawba
MF – Ben Dukes, Carson-Newman
D – Harry Rowe, Lenoir-Rhyne
D – Pedro Santos, Wingate
D – Stefan Roeb, Limestone
D – Leandro Dos Santos Haesler, Lincoln Memorial
GK – Franco Antoniolli Funes, Anderson

Second Team
F – Mark Radoki, Limestone
F – Juan Pablo Nicoletti, Catawba
F – Frederic Benedix, Coker
F – Sebastia Cerda-Tous, Catawba
MF – Seraphin Guetan, Newberry
MF – Arnau Ollie, Lenoir-Rhyne
MF – Ronan O'Mahony, Lincoln Memorial
MF – Mitchell Honcoop, Carson-Newman
D – Falk Jorch, Limestone
D – Matty Tricker, Coker
D – Dennis Hamzic, Wingate
D – Maxime Wester, Carson-Newman
GK – Zak Stiffler, Catawba

Third Team
F – Baustista Vecchi-Romello, Catawba
F – Tajay Grant, Lincoln Memorial
F – Diego Fernandez, Mars Hill
F – Ido Omaysi, Lenoir-Rhyne
MF – Ethan Orozco, Newberry
MF – Peter Majer, Catawba
D – Pol Elias, Anderson
D – Daniel Becerra, Limestone
D – Ben Harvey, Mars Hill
D – Nolan McMillen, Mars Hill
GK – Federico Simonetti, Carson-Newman