PAC Release

TRAFFORD, Pa. -- The Allegheny College men's soccer team was voted fourth in the 2024 Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Preseason Coaches' Poll, as announced by the conference office on Friday.

The predicted fourth-place finish marks the best for the Gator men's soccer program in a preseason poll in more than a decade. The last time Allegheny was picked as high as fourth was in 2013 as a member of the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC). It should come as no surprise, however, as the Gators earned tickets to the PAC Championship Tournament in each of their two seasons under head coach John Lichina '14, finishing fourth in the regular season in 2022 and sixth in 2023.

Topping the 2024 preseason rankings was Geneva College, the defending PAC champion, which received eight first-place votes and 97 total points. Grove City College was second with 92 points, followed by Franciscan University with 81. Rounding out the top five were Allegheny (62) and Waynesburg University (57).

Three Gators were also cited in the PAC release as part of the Players to Watch list. Senior defender Brady Napoleon (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon), a two-time All-PAC First-Team selection, highlighted the Allegheny trio. He was joined by fellow senior Cliff Weaver (Silver Spring, Md./Albert Einstein) and second-year midfielder Will Gruca (Baden, Pa./Ambridge), who was named an All-PAC Honorable Mention in the fall of 2023.