Coquitlam’s Polisi brothers are projected to lead their SFU Clan men’s soccer team to its fourth straight Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship, according to a preseason coaches poll.
The Clan was a unanimous choice, receiving all seven first-place votes.
The team is also ranked 13th in the country in the NCAA Div II men’s preseason poll.
The expectations for success are largely due to Matteo and Marcello Polisi.
The former was the Clan’s leading scorer last year with 47 points — 18 of them goals. He was also a first team All-GNAC recipient, the D2CCA west region player of the year, and a first team All-American.
Matteo, a midfielder, was named to the All-GNAC and All-West Region first teams.
The Polisi’s will anchor a team that is returning seven starters and 13 letter-winners from last season, including junior goalkeeper Luciano Trasolini, whose 16 wins, 11 shutouts and 34 saves earned him the award as the 2018 GNAC newcomer of the year.
Other local players on the Clan’s roster this season include: sophomore defender Lucas McIlveen, a Dr. Charles Best grad; senior midfielder Quinn Dawson, also a former Blue Devil; senior midfielder Kyle Jones, also from Best; freshman forward Patrick Ruszczyk, a Heritage Woods secondary school grad; and junior keeper Aidan Bain, from Terry Fox secondary.
The team plays its first game Sept. 5, at 11:30 a.m., at SFU’s Terry Fox Field in Burnaby.
Meanwhile, preseason pollsters are picking the Clan’s women’s team to finish fourth.
The side is returning six players from last year’s squad that reached the GNAC finals. One of them is Centennial secondary grad, sophomore midfielder Danae Robillard. She’ll be joined by a couple of local freshmen, former Centaurs teammate Kiara Buono, and Best grad, midfielder Valerie Silva.
The women’s team plays its first game Sept. 14, against Cal State San Marcos, in San Marcos, Calif.
