D3kicks.com and the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) have recently released their preseason Top 25 polls that list Gustavus Adolphus ranked 18th and 23rd, respectively. Coach Larry Zelenz and the Golden Gusties are coming off an 18-3-1 season that earned them a share of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular season title, captured the MIAC tournament title and suffered a 1-0 NCAA second round loss to Wartburg. Zelenz returns seven starters and 14 letterwinners to a squad highlighted by the return of All-Region performer Mike Butterworth and all-conference honorable mention players Jeffrey Johnson and Ben Huepel. One big question to be answered is who will start between the posts in goal with the graduation of Tyler Garry.
Gustavus is the only MIAC program to be ranked in both polls. Augsburg and St. John’s were the only other conference competitors to receive votes in the D3kicks.com poll.