Cal State LA has been selected as the favorite in the 2024 CCAA Men's Soccer Preseason Coaches Poll.
The Golden Eagles earned 140 points and nine of the 12 first-place votes to claim the top spot.
Cal Poly Pomona finished second with 132 points and one first-place vote.
Cal State Monterey Bay placed third with 109 points, and
Chico State placed fourth with 103 points.
| 2024 MEN'S SOCCER PRESEASON POLL |
| Cal State LA (9) |
140 |
| Cal Poly Pomona (1) |
132 |
| Cal State Monterey Bay |
109 |
| Chico State |
103 |
| Cal State San Bernardino (1) |
91 |
| Cal State Dominguez Hills (1) |
85 |
| Cal State San Marcos |
72 |
| Sonoma State |
58 |
| Cal State East Bay |
56 |
| Cal Poly Humboldt |
39 |
| Stanislaus State |
32 |
| San Francisco State |
19 |
| (first-place votes in parentheses) |
The remaining two first-place votes went to
Cal State San Bernardino (91 points) in fifth and
Cal State Dominguez Hills (85) in sixth.
Cal State San Marcos earned the seventh spot on the list with 72 points. Voting for eighth place was very close as
Sonoma State edged out
Cal State East Bay 58-56.
Cal Poly Humboldt (39),
Stanislaus State (32), and
San Francisco State (19) rounded out the poll.
Cal State LA is the defending CCAA regular season champions and the three-time defending CCAA Tournament Champions. The Golden Eagles are expected to have a much younger team this year as they lost many from their CCAA Championship teams to graduation. One returner is central defender Andrew Portis, who is back to anchor a defense that ranked second in NCAA Division II in shutout percentage (.727) and first in save percentage (.893).
Cal Poly Pomona earned the No. 2 spot on the list after another great season in 2023. The Broncos went 8-1-2 in conference play and 14-2-5 overall to reach the NCAA Tournament for the seventh consecutive season. CPP leads the conference with four student-athletes being named to the preseason watchlist. Jasper Winslow (D) and Mads Frederiksen (MF) were All-CCAA selections last season. Marcus Jorgensen (MF) and Sam Lena (F) earned the honor after their standout performances in the 2023 CCAA Tournament.
Cal State Monterey Bay put together one of the program's best seasons last year as they reached the CCAA Tournament semifinals and earned a spot in the NCAA West Regional. The Otters went 12-5-4 and 7-2-2 in the CCAA. They knocked off Cal State LA early in the season and were nationally ranked for several weeks. CSUMB will return eight starters from last year, including All-CCAA selections Alan Bedolla, Janos Kömmerling, Alex Sanchez, and 2023 CCAA Newcomer of the Year Kane Ritchie.
Chico State brings back 20 letterwinners and three All-CCAA selections to a team that lost only two matches in 2023. The Wildcats opened the season with seven straight wins and finished 11-2-7 on the season and 4-1-6 in the CCAA. Chico boasted one of the best defenses in Div. II allowing only .636 goals per match (8th) and shutting out their opponents half the time (14th).
Cal State San Bernardino went to the CCAA Tournament for the second time in three seasons as they battled until the final match of the regular season to earn a bid. Eleven letterwinners return for the Coyotes this season. This includes two of their top three goal scorers, Tony Negrete (5 goals) and Brian Castillo (5).
The coaches are expecting
Cal State Dominguez Hills' fortunes to turn around in 2024. After going unbeaten to win the conference in 2022 (7-0-4), CSUDH fell to 5-6-6 (2-5-4 CCAA) in 2023. The Toros will have an experienced squad returning with at least 11 letterwinners. CSUDH led the conference last year in shots per match (16.76).
Sonoma State was in the hunt for a CCAA postseason berth until the season's final weekend. The Seawolves finished 4-5-2 in the CCAA and 6-8-4 overall. Keeper Jack Chapman had shutouts in three of his eight starts.
Cal State East Bay returns 2023 All-CCAA forward Aaron Farnan, along with seven other letterwinners. Last season, the Pioneers finished fifth in the conference in goal differential (+1) and fourth in save percentage (.787).
Cal Poly Humboldt (39),
Stanislaus State (32), and
San Francisco State (19) rounded out the poll.
The following student-athletes were selected for the 2024 CCAA Men's Soccer Watchlist. All 13 earned first or second team
2023 All-CCAA honors or were voted to the
CCAA All-Tournament Team.
| 2024 CCAA MEN'S SOCCER WATCHLIST |
| Name |
Yr. |
Pos. |
School |
| Alan Bedolla |
Sr. |
F |
Cal State Monterey Bay |
| Curtis Collazos |
Sr. |
MF |
Cal State San Marcos |
| Aaron Farnan |
Sr. |
F |
Cal State East Bay |
| Mads Frederiksen |
Jr. |
MF |
Cal Poly Pomona |
| Marcus Jorgensen |
Jr. |
D |
Cal Poly Pomona |
| Janos Kömmerling |
Sr. |
MF |
Cal State Monterey Bay |
| Sam Lena |
Jr. |
F |
Cal Poly Pomona |
| Preston Moll |
Sr. |
D |
Chico State |
| Emanuel Padilla |
Sr. |
GK |
Chico State |
| Andrew Portis |
Jr. |
D |
Cal State LA |
| Miles Rice |
Sr. |
F |
Chico State |
| Alex Sanchez |
Sr. |
D |
Cal State Monterey Bay |
| Jasper Winslow |
Sr. |
D |
Cal Poly Pomona |