Wake Forest Athletics
Men’s Soccer Picked To Finish Second In ACC South Region
9/8/2020 11:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
The Demon Deacons tallied the second-most votes in the ACC South Region and as overall champions behind only Clemson.
GREENSBORO, N.C. -- The Atlantic Coast Conference on Tuesday announced the 2020 men's soccer fall preseason poll, with Wake Forest being picked to finish in second place in the South Region and as overall champion.
Clemson was picked ahead of the Demon Deacons in both the South Region and as overall champion by a single vote. Wake Forest (five) received the same number of first-place votes as Clemson, but received one less overall vote than the Tigers in the South Region.
Additionally, Wake Forest received four overall champion votes behind Clemson's five. North Carolina and Virginia also received one vote each as the overall champion.
This season, the ACC is split into the North and South Regions with six conference games against regional opponents over a nine-week period.
An eight-team ACC Championship will begin Sunday, Nov. 15 and continues with the semifinals on Wednesday, Nov. 18. The four North Carolina institutions will serve as the quarterfinal and semifinal venues. The championship game is planned for Sunday, Nov. 22, at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C.
Wake Forest and Clemson will open the regular season on Friday, Sept. 18 at Riggs Field in Clemson, S.C. The game will be televised on the ACC Network.
In addition to the preseason poll, the 2020 Preseason Watch List was also announced with senior defender Michael DeShields being selected.
The Baltimore native has appeared in 60 games with 49 starts so far during his Demon Deacon career. Last season, he was named Second-Team All-South Region.
2020 ACC Men's Soccer Preseason Poll
First place points are in parentheses.
North Region
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Virginia (9), 59
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Pitt (2), 44
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Virginia Tech, 35
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Syracuse, 30
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Louisville, 29
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Notre Dame, 28
South Region
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Clemson (5), 45
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Wake Forest (5), 44
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North Carolina (1), 33
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NC State, 21
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Duke, 17
Overall Champion
Clemson, 5 votes
Wake Forest, 4
North Carolina, 1
Virginia, 1
2020 ACC Preseason Watch List
Kimarni Smith, Senior, Forward, Clemson
Jack Doran, Graduate, Midfielder, Duke
Pedro Fonseca, Junior, Forward, Louisville
Alec Smir, Junior, Goalkeeper, North Carolina
George Asomani, Senior, Midfielder, NC State
Jack Lynn, Junior, Forward, Notre Dame
Edward Kizza, Senior, Forward, Pitt
Sondre Norheim, Senior, Defender, Syracuse
Nathaniel Crofts, Senior, Forward, Virginia
Kristo Strickler, Senior, Forward, Virginia Tech
Michael DeShields, Senior, Defender, Wake Forest
