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BAY CITY, Mich. --  The head men's soccer coaches of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) chose Saginaw Valley State University and Ohio Dominican University to win the 2013 GLIAC men's soccer North and South divisional titles, respectively, in preseason balloting.

    The league's head coaches participated in the balloting, but were not allowed to vote for their team.

    The Cardinals outreached Tiffin University by seven points in the North Division voting (43-36) and acquired three first-place votes. SVSU was the 2012 GLIAC North Division, overall and Tournament Champion, making an incredible postseason run that ended in the NCAA Division II Championship match with a 3-2 loss to Lynn University (Fla.).

    Tiffin finished second in the North Division poll with 36 points and one first-place nod. Northwood University finished close behind, collecting 35 points to come in third. The University of Findlay placed fourth in the Division with 10 points.

    Ohio Dominican University earned two first-place votes, giving the Panthers a 13-point margin over Malone University to finish first in the South Division. ODU tallied 37 points to the Pioneers' 24 points.

    Lake Erie College tallied 21 points, putting the Storm in third place in the South Division Poll. Walsh University placed fourth in the South with 18 points.

    GLIAC men's soccer teams open play on Thursday September 5th with conference play beginning on Friday, September 13. Six teams will qualify for the 2013 GLIAC Men's Soccer Tournament which will begin with quarterfinals on Tuesday, November 5th on campus sites, with the semifinals and final held on November 8 & 10 on the campus of the highest remaining seed.

      -- The following are previews of all eight GLIAC Men's Soccer teams for the 2013 season --

University of Findlay
Head Coach:  Andy Smyth
25th Season
2013 Preseason Coaches' Poll Rank: 4th (North)

The University of Findlay men's soccer team finished with a 6-9-1 record last year under the guidance of head coach Andy Smyth, which included a 3-9-1 mark in the GLIAC.  Smyth, who has amassed a 183-209-35 record in his 25 years as the head coach, will welcome back 17 players who saw action for the team in 2012.

Senior Alex Oliver, the 2010 GLIAC Freshman of the Year, returns to lead the squad while sophomore Mark Sleasman is back after leading the Oilers with five goals in his first season with the squad.

Senior Nick Soncrant and sophomore Ryan Poyle also return after scoring three goals apiece in 2012.

Lake Erie College
Head Coach:  Davie Carmichael
Third Season
2013 Preseason Coaches' Poll Rank: 3rd (South) 

The Storm return several starters from last year's team.  Goalkeepers Filip Ljubevski (Ajax, Ont./Pickering) and Sam Etherton (Alliance, Ohio/Alliance) are both back to once again compete for starting spots.  Willie Cognee (Terrebonne, Quebec/Amand-Corbeil) returns to anchor the Storm's defense.  All-GLIAC Honorable Mention Ryan Gibson (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Scioto) returns for his second year at the midfield position along with senior captain Stewart Bath (Billingham, England/Billingham Campus School/Averett University).  Randy Danso (Toronto, Canada/Don Mills/North County Community College) returns to the striker position after missing the 2012 season with an injury.

Coach Davie Carmichael (Notre Dame-OH) '07) returns for his third season with the Storm.

  Malone University
  Head Coach: Brian Stock  
  Second Season
  2013 Preseason Coaches' Poll Rank: 2nd (South)   

The MU men's soccer team will try to build off a successful first season in the GLIAC where it went 6-9-1 overall and 6-6-1 within the conference before losing in the first round of the conference playoffs. Head coach Brian Stock enters his second year at the helm of the program and returns thirteen players starters from last season.

Prominent returners include seniors Rubem Miranda, Kelvin Aquino and Felipe Monteiro. Miranda was an All-Ohio NCAA Division II First Team and All-GLIAC First Team selection after leading Malone in goals with four and tying for the team lead in points with 10. Aquino tied Miranda for the team lead in points last year after scoring three goals and distributing a team-leading four assists. He has scored 22 goals and dished off 15 assists in his career at Malone. Monteiro, a fourth year starter, needs just five shutouts to set the school all-time record for shutouts with 13. Last season he posted a career-high six shutouts in 16 starts, while stopping 113 shots. For his efforts, he was named to the GLIAC All-Conference 2nd Team.

  Northwood University
  Head Coach:  Doug Carter
  15th Season
  2013 Preseason Coaches' Poll Rank: 3rd (North) 

The Northwood men's soccer team heads into the 2013 season with a large group of returning players.  Coming off a 10-7-1 season (8-5 GLIAC), the Timberwolves bring back 13 players that were on the team last season.  

Northwood's defense has been a strength the last few seasons and will be led by Joey Censoni, who earned Honorable Mention All-GLIAC recognition last season.  Goalkeeper Johannes Sterobo also returns after registering a 1.37 goals against average and posting five shutouts.

The big question for the Timberwolves will be up front, where Northwood loses its top three goal scorers.  Doug Carter is entering his 13th season as the head coach of the Timberwolves, having posted a record of 88-92-21 as men's coach.

    Ohio Dominican University
    Head Coach:  Willy Merrick
    Sixth Season
    2013 Preseason Coaches' Poll Rank: 1st (South)

Following the graduation of seven seniors from the 2012 squad, including four all-conference selections, sixth year head coach Willy Merrick will field a young and promising team that he expects to step up and accept the challenge of filling the void and tradition the seniors left behind.

ODU returns just three seniors from last year's squad in Dean Dziewit (Waterford, Mich.), Duncan Campbell (Hilliard, Ohio) and Billy McGlone (Lexington, Ohio). Dziewit started six games in goal for the Panthers where he recorded 29 saves and finished the season with an overall record of 3-2-1. He was sidelined part of the season due to injury.

Campbell was a 2012 NCAA Division II/NAIA All-Ohio Second Team and was named to the (NSCAA) All-East Region Honorable Mention team. He earned All-GLIAC Honorable Mention while playing and starting in all 19 games for the Panthers. McGlone played in 14 games and started six and scored one goal against Lake Erie on September 16.

Joining the seniors is all-conference second team selection Jakob Szabo (Worthington, Ohio). Szabo was selected to the Division II/NAIA Men's All-Ohio First Team. He played and started 17 games for the Panthers where he recorded 11 points and 49 shots on the year.

  Saginaw Valley State University
  Head Coach:  Cale Wassermann
  Fourth season
  2013 Preseason Coaches' Poll Rank: 1st (North)

The SVSU men's soccer team looks to keep momentum rolling from their incredible 2012 season which saw them make a deep run in the NCAA Division II Playoffs, losing in the National Championship Game to Lynn University in the final game of the season.  The Cardinals will deal with a bit of adversity, losing NSCAA Division II "Player of the Year" in Zach Myers and First Team All-GLIAC goaltender Jason Wise, but a strong core of returning players will aide SVSU in its quest for another GLIAC Championship and shot at a national title.

Senior Lachlan Savage returns to anchor the 2013 squad after making the All-GLIAC First Team and Daktronics, Inc. All-Midwest Region Team in 2012.  Fellow seniors Zach Walega, Taylor Clarke and junior Michael Lamb all look to secure spots for the Cardinals after earning Second Team All-GLIAC plaudits last season.  Junior Zach Vasold  comes back to the squad as well, fresh off being named to the All-GLIAC Honorable Mention Team for 2012.

  Tiffin University
  Head Coach:  Rudy Brownell
  Seventh Season
  2013 Preseason Coaches' Poll Rank: 2nd (North)

Tiffin University's men's soccer team looks forward to an exciting year after a disappointing 5-9-2 (4-8-1 GLIAC) campaign in 2012. The Dragons return 17 letterwinners, including leading scorer Karl Jones (10 goals, 21 points) and Jon O'Brien (team-best 7 assists). Cedric Bruce-Kotey (4 goals, 8 points) also returns along with goalkeeper Jeremy Ashley (1.58 GAA, 80 saves). Other key returners coming back include forward Edison Benda, midfielder Ryan Johnstone, and defender/midfielder Smart Osadolor.

Rudy Brownell guides the Dragons in his 11th overall season, 7th with the men's program. He has a 148-75-25 career coaching mark (64-36-9 with the men).

  Walsh University
  Head Coach: John Hall
  Third Season
  2013 Preseason Coaches' Poll Rank: 4th (South)

Walsh enters its second season as a member of the GLIAC under the guidance of Head Coach John Hall, who is in his third year with the Cavaliers. Last season, the Cavaliers were 3-13 overall and 3-10 in the conference.
The Cavs return 13 letter winners and seven starters from last year. Their two captains, senior Chris Lynch (6-2, Bellbrook, OH/HS) and junior Quebec Gibbins (5-10, Canton, OH/Jackson), will be an integral part of the success of this year's squad. Last season, Lynch scored three goals and two assists for eight points.

Walsh opens the season with two non-conference games on the road at California (Pa.) and Cedarville. The Cavs' conference opener will be at Findlay on Sunday, Sept. 15. Their home opener will be that following Tuesday against rival Malone.