Rio ranked No. 19 in NAIA preseason poll

Rio Grande/NAIA Sports Information
     KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The University of Rio Grande is ranked 19th in the preseason NAIA Men's Soccer Coaches' Top 25 Poll released Wednesday by the national office.
     A panel of head coaches representing each conference and Continental Athletic Conference (Independents) voted on the poll.
     The RedStorm, who were named as the preseason favorite in the River States Conference on Tuesday, picked up 200 points in the balloting.
     Head coach Scott Morrissey's club returns five of its eight All-RSC honorees from last year's club, which finished 14-2-3 after a loss to Westcliff (Calif.) in the second round of the NAIA National Championship.
     Rio's list of returnees include a quartet of first team picks - senior forward Joe McInnes (Airdrie, Scotland), sophomore midfielder Tommy Munoz Salazar (San Jose, Costa Rica), senior defender Harry Walsh (Letchworth Garden City, England) and senior goal keeper Matheus de Campos (Brasilia, Brazil).
     The RedStorm also returns junior midfielder Justin Jimenez (Alajuela, Costa Rica), who was named to the All-RSC second team last fall.
     Rio Grande opens its schedule at home on Aug. 22 when they face Saint Xavier (Ill.) as part of the RedStorm Classic.
     MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.), the winners of the 2023 NAIA national championship, received all 18 first-place votes and 480 points in the poll.
     The remainder of the top five was comprised of Milligan, Tenn. (461 pts.), St. Thomas, Fla. (443 pts.), Oklahoma Wesleyan (437 pts.) and Dalton State, Ga. (410 pts.).