BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Coming off its first Atlantic Sun tournament title-winning season, Campbell opens its 2008 men's soccer exhibition schedule Monday with a 6:00 p.m. kick-off at home against Big South Conference member Coastal Carolina.

Campbell (13-6-3, 5-2-2 A-Sun in 2007) won the A-Sun Championship tournament in penalty kicks (5-4) over top-seeded Jacksonville before falling at number-20 Furman 2-0 in the NCAA College Cup first round. Coastal Carolina (10-8-1, 6-0-0 Big South) was the top seed in last year's Big South tournament, but lost in the semifinals to Radford. (3-1).

For the third-consecutive year, Campbell has been picked on top of the Atlantic Sun Conference pre-season poll. The Fighting Camels, who return eight starters from last year's club, garnered seven of the 10 first place ballots and 95 points overall in the poll of league head coaches. Last year's regular-season champion and tournament runner-up Jacksonville was picked second with 88 points (two first place votes), while Stetson was third at 84 points.

Campbell owns a 16-4-4 record in A-Sun regular season matches since the start of the 2005 campaign and a 3-4-0 record against nationally-ranked foes in that same span. Overall, the Camels stand 36-19-6 over the past three campaigns

For the second-straight time, Campbell senior midfielder Richard Jata has been named the league's pre-season player of the year. He was joined on the pre-season all-conference unit by three teammates -- senior keeper Aaron Johnson, senior defender Stephen Oyuga and sophomore midfielder Josue Soto, the 2007 A-Sun freshman of the year.

Last year, Jata ranked fourth among league leaders in points (22), points per game (1.05) and goals (9), fifth in goals per game (0.43) and game-winning goals (3), while standing ninth in assists (4). He was named 2nd-team All-South, and 1st-team all-conference. CU has a 12-0-1 record in games when Jata scores since he joined the team in 2006.

A three-time all-conference and league all-tournament choice, Johnson owns a 1.1176 career goals-against average, the best in Campbell's 45-year history. He posted a 1.10 GAA in 2007.

Oyuga earned all-conference first-team honors in 2007 after gaining second-team recognition in 2006. He started 21 games last year in the central defense, helping guide the Camels to the second-best goals-against average (1.17) in the A-Sun.

Soto was chosen as the 2007 A-Sun freshman of the year, first-team all-conference, 3rd team All-South and second-team freshman All-America by College Soccer News. He ranked fourth overall and tops among league freshmen in the A-Sun with 22 points on eight goals and six assists.

Campbell continues its pre-season schedule Thursday (Aug. 21) at Elon, before hosting long-time rival UNC Wilmington on Fri., Aug. 29 (7:00) in its regular season opener.