SUWANEE, Ga. - The Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference released the 2009 SCAC Men's Soccer Prospectus today. The prospectus includes schedules, standings, statistics and a complete list of previous conference champions. The publication also includes an in depth look and preview of all 12 SCAC men's soccer teams and much more.

There is a familiar feeling heading into the 2009 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference soccer season. Trinity University finished fifth in the nation a year ago and has now won seven straight SCAC titles. The Texas Tigers will certainly be the favorite headed into this season, however, San Antonio is not the only place where excitement abounds heading into the 2009 campaign.

The SCAC looks to continue the success which has been building each season following the league’s expansion to 10 schools in 1998. Over the past ten seasons, the conference standings have shown at least four teams with ten or more wins at season’s end. But even that sustained top-to-bottom excellence has not resulted in a bevy of tournament bids for the membership. In fact, the league has produced only one representative to the NCAA tournament over the last eight years.

But as familiar as things may seem, ten members of the All-SCAC first team graduated in 2008 – the largest number of seniors ever represented on the team since the SCAC reorganized in 1991. New faces coupled with key veterans should make the league as competitive as ever and generate another opportunity for the SCAC to shine in the national spotlight for yet another year.

Paul McGinlay, the 2008 SCAC Coach-of-the-Year, begins his 19th season as the head coach of Trinity University. McGinlay is a 10-time SCAC Coach of the Year honoree and has led his team to an undefeated and untied conference mark seven times in his career. With his Tigers coming off yet another quarterfinal appearance in the national tournament, Trinity has advanced to the Elite Eight in four of the last six seasons. The Tigers carry a pre-season number five ranking and, as always, the expectations will be high in San Antonio in 2009. Trinity has its work cut out with the loss of four all-Americans due to graduation: Tyrone Petrakis, Michael Robertson, Noe Casanova (2008 SCAC Player-of-the-Year) and Patrick Floeck. Trinity was the only school in Division III to have four players receive all-American honors last season. Floeck graduates after leading the league in goals scored each of the last two years and finished his career as the fifth-most prolific scorer in SCAC history (53 goals). Even with the loss of four all-Americans, the Tigers return eight starters including Ben Grossman. Grossman, a first team All-SCAC performer last year, scored 13 goals (four game-winners) and dished out four assists for 30 points.

For the third straight year Southwestern University finished second in the SCAC and came up just short of a bid to the NCAA tournament. Don Gregory, now in his 12th season in Georgetown, has a career record of 114-82-16 (57-36-8 in league play). The Pirates welcome back six starters, including captains Davy Lozano (2008 First Team All-SCAC), Nathan Shaw-Meadow and Josh Spencer (2008 Second Team All-SCAC). With a blend of new talent mixed with the experienced returnees, Southwestern is poised for another successful season with the ultimate goal of earning the program’s first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Centre College is coming off a year that saw the Colonels earn the program’s most wins since 2000 and the most wins in a single season for head coach Jeb Burch since taking the reins in 2002. Danville, Kentucky. Centre looks to run its consecutive winning season streak to 21 in 2009, but will have to work hard after the loss of five seniors from last year’s 15-5-0 squad. This year’s version of the Colonels will be a veteran group with nine seniors returning for their final season of collegiate athletics. Three all-conference performers return - including Aaron Arndt, Chris Allen and Richard Hinton. Arndt will anchor the backfield from his goalkeeper position after posting a .783 save percentage (fourth in the SCAC) and six shutouts (second in the SCAC). Allen, who was named third team All-SCAC, added a goal and two assists from his midfield position. Hinton scored six goals, and tallied six assists (sixth in the SCAC) for a total of 18 points (ninth in the SCAC) from his forward position. With returning experience and 11 talented newcomers, the Colonels are primed to make a run at the school’s first NCAA tournament berth since 1999.

Horst Richardson returns for his 44th season and third in the SCAC as the head coach of Colorado College. Richardson is just four wins shy of the 500th for his storied career. The Tigers are determined to make an appearance in the NCAA tournament but know they must improve in the month of November where Colorado College is just 8-7-1 over the past seven seasons. Fortunately, the Tigers appear to have all the tools necessary to maintain a consistent effort throughout the year. Colorado has seven seniors to provide leadership, eight of its top 11 point producers from a year ago and a goaltender who ranked among the Division III leaders in both goals-against average and saves percentage. Expectations are high at the base of Pikes Peak and the Tigers have their eyes set on a berth in the 2009 NCAA tournament.

Things could not have been any tighter last year for first-year head coach Brad Hauter of DePauw University. The Indiana Tigers tied six games and competed in nine others that were decided by one goal. DePauw returns a slew of experience, including 15 letterwinners and eight starters. Included among those eight starters is the entire defensive backline that ranked 21st nationally in goals against average. To complement a veteran backline, the Tigers also return the 2008 SCAC Defensive Player of the Year in Ted Jacobi. The senior goalkeeper was in goal for all but 45 minutes in 2008 and posted a 0.63 goals against average (second in the SCAC), which ranked 24th in the nation. His .878 saves percentage (second in the SCAC) was seventh in Division III and he recorded a league-best nine shutouts. If DePauw can find a way to shore up its offensive output; Coach Hauter’s Tigers will be fighting to find a spot back in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2000.

There is a strong sense of excitement in Jackson, Mississippi this season as Millsaps College returns eight starters from a team that won more games in conference play than any other Majors’ team since 1996. Coach Lee Johnson enters his seventh year at the helm and invites thirteen newcomers to the program. Offensively, the Majors set school records for goals scored (51), assists (34) and total points (136) in 2008. Coach Johnson will have to find an answer early on for replacing second team All-SCAC and third team All-South Central Region forward Anthony Amaya, who provided much of that offensive firepower a year ago. With the pieces assembled, Millsaps has reason to believe that this is the year the program can snap its 12-year losing streak, which dates to 1996.

The winningest coach in school history, Andy Marcinko returns for his 19th season at Rhodes College. The Lynx will return nineteen players (seven starters) and welcome fourteen new faces to Memphis this year. Logan Eberly returns as one of those leaders. He was named to the All-SCAC second team a year ago after scoring eight goals (fifth in the SCAC) and adding an assist to lead the Lynx in points with 17 from his forward position. Finishing at 11-7-1, last season was an uptick for Rhodes, however Coach Marcinko and the Lynx will look to get back into the top four of the conference for the first time since 2004.

Head Coach Mark Hudson’s second year at the helm of Austin College saw the ‘Roos improve by a margin of five wins, more than any other school in the SCAC after posting a record of 7-10-1 in 2008. The story from last year’s team was youth – none more evident than the play of Luis Castillo, who was named second team All-SCAC as well as the league’s Newcomer-of-the-Year after leading the ’Roos in goals scored (7), assists (4) and total points (18). A year older, Austin College is looking to turn some heads in 2009 and has hopes of its best league finish since joining the SCAC in 2006.

Oglethorpe University hopes to continue the success it showed late in the 2008 season as the Stormy Petrels picked up wins in five of their last six games. Head Coach Jon Akin, now entering his seventh season, will certainly have his challenges with just four upperclassmen and twenty one new faces added to the program. Oglethorpe, which has posted three 11+ win seasons in the past five, is poised with a blend of young talent and key leadership to make a run and compete at the top of the SCAC in 2009.

This season will mark the 41st anniversary of soccer on the Mountain at The University of the South-Sewanee. Head Coach David Poggi returns for his third season and will have work to do as the Tigers will have to blend key leadership roles with a great deal of young talent. Like most teams in the SCAC, this year’s edition of the Tigers will be fairly young with the addition of sixteen new faces. Sewanee does return its top point scorer from a year ago in sophomore forward Matt Lightfoot who scored five goals and added four assists while being named third team All-SCAC. The Purple Tigers feel with the right chemistry blend that this team can get back to becoming a winning program – something that has not been seen on the Mountain since 2004.

Hendrix College Head Coach Doug Mello returns for his second year with the Warriors and is excited to see the improvement his team has made from a year ago. The Warriors, who lost five games last year by one goal, return seven seniors to lead a squad that was extremely young last season. With the additional year of experience and maturity for a team that at times started nine freshman in 2008, this year’s team is excited about the opportunity to become the first winning men’s team at Hendrix since 1993.

In his 27th season as the head coach of Birmingham-Southern College, Preston Goldfarb welcomes back fourteen players to a team that had just one returning starter in 2008. The 2008 season saw the Panthers lose nine one-goal games – thanks in huge part to its youth. Coach Goldfarb invites fourteen new faces to join this year’s team that looks to combine with its veteran leadership in an attempt to get back to the winning ways people have grown accustom to on the Hilltop.

To view the entire 2009 SCAC Men's Soccer Prospectus, click here.