Men’s Soccer ranked 9th in South Atlantic Region; heads to UNCW Thursday

BUIES CREEK, N.C. – A draw with nationally-ranked Furman last week in the season opener has lifted Campbell University into the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) South Atlantic men's top-10 poll.

The Fighting Camels (0-0-1) stand ninth in the first South Atlantic ranking of the season following a 0-0 deadlock last Friday with Furman, which was rated 30th in the country in the CollegeSoccerNews.com poll.

Maryland (1-0-0) tops the South Atlantic poll, followed by William & Mary (1-0-0), Boston College (1-0-0), Virginia Commonwealth (1-0-0), Virginia (0-1-0), Northeastern (1-0-0), Old Dominion (0-0-0), Delaware (1-0-0), Campbell and High Point (0-0-1).

The Camels return to action at the most frequent rival in the 49-year history of the program on Thursday in a 7:00 p.m. kick-off at UNC Wilmington.  UNCW (0-1-0) is coming off a 3-1 loss to North Carolina, which tops this week's South Region poll and is ranked third nationally by the NSCAA.

CU keepers Ryan Amons and Ethan Hall combined for nine saves in last week's shutout of Furman, marking the second year in a row that the Camels and Paladins played to a scoreless draw.

The result also stands as CU's second-straight season opener that did not include any goals for either side, following a 0-0 deadlock between Campbell and Loyola (Md.) in 2010.

Campbell leads the all-time series with UNCW 24-20-1, but dropped identical 3-1 decisions in both 2009 and 2010.  Junior midfielder Mitchell Cardenas has scored in both of his career outings against the Seahawks.

Following Thursday's match, the Camels are off for eight days until they return to Wilmington to play in the UNCW adidas Classic.  The Camels square off against Wofford on Fri., Sept. 9 (5:00 p.m.) and meet Hartford on Sun., Sept. 11 (1:00 p.m.).

Furman is also ranked ninth in this week's South Region listing, just ahead of Elon (0-0-1), which will visit Campbell on Wed., Sept. 14.