Rowan University has been selected as the favorite to win the 2004 New Jersey Athletic Conference Men’s Soccer Championship in a preseason poll of the league’s nine head coaches. The defending 2003 NJAC Champions, the Profs will be seeking their 13th NJAC crown since the conference’s inception in 1959.

Rowan finished the 2003 season with a 19-6-0 overall record and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Profs received three of the nine first place votes cast by the coaches. Under the direction of 29th-year head coach Dan Gilmore, Rowan has posted an overall record of 456-106-38.

Rowan returns both the 2003 NJAC Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year in sophomore forward Dwayne Reevey and junior midfielder Nick Martinelli respectively. In addition, the Profs return junior all-conference back Rich Dominiak.

Richard Stockton College finished second in the poll and also received three first place votes among the nine ballots cast. The 2001 and 2002 NJAC Champions return three all-conference players in junior forward Scott Adams, junior midfielder A.J. DeSarno and senior back Tom Ferron. The Ospreys finished first in the 2003 NJAC regular season, but fell to Rowan in last year’s championship match, 2-1. The 2001 NCAA Division III National Champions finished 14-8-2 overall in 2003 and advanced to the semifinal round of the ECAC Metro NY/NJ Tournament before falling to NJAC rival Ramapo, 2-0.

Montclair State University placed third in the poll and also received three first place votes. The Red Hawks finished the 2003 season with a 16-3-4 overall record and captured the ECAC Metro NY/NJ Tournament Championship with a 1-0 victory in the title match over NJAC rival Ramapo. Montclair returns four 2003 all-conference players in sophomore forward Ryan Morgan, sophomore back Mike Hogan, junior midfielder Sean Horan and junior back Kyle Hughes.

Rounding out the remainder of the selections in the poll were conference dark horse pick Kean University selected to finish fourth; Ramapo College selected to finish fifth; Rutgers University-Camden selected for sixth place; The College of New Jersey picked to finish seventh; William Paterson University picked to finish eighth; and Rutgers University-Newark selected to finish ninth.

The top six regular season finishers will advance to the 2004 NJAC Championship Tournament. The first and second-seeded teams will receive first round tournament byes.

The first round of the 2004 NJAC Tournament will kickoff on October 30. The tournament semifinals will take place on November 2, and the 2004 NJAC champion will be crowned at the conference championship match on November 5. All tournament matches will be held at the site of the highest seed. The winner of the NJAC Tournament receives the conference’s automatic qualification to the NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament.