Aug. 27, 2010
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame’s Aaron Maund (Dorchester, Mass./The Roxbury Latin School) and Dillon Powers (Plano, Texas/Plano West) have been named Soccer America Preseason All-Americans. The publication also released its preseason rankings and the Fighting Irish debut at No. 18.
Notre Dame is one of five teams with multiple representatives on the 25-man Soccer America Preseason All-America Team. Akron has four players on the squad, while Virginia, North Carolina and Tulsa join the Irish with two apiece.
Earlier this month, Maund, a junior central defender, was tabbed as the 2010 BIG EAST Preseason Defensive Player of the Year and named to the All-BIG EAST Preseason Team. Last season, Maund collected second-team all-league accolades. He tallied one goal in 2009, the equalizer in a 2-2 draw against No. 8 USF during the BIG EAST Championship quarterfinals. The Irish later topped the Bulls in a penalty kick shootout.
Maund started all 18 matches that he was available to play for the Fighting Irish during the 2009 campaign. Maund and Powers missed five games in September as they were competing with the United States Under-20 team at the U-20 World Cup in Egypt.
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Powers, a sophomore midfielder, is fresh off winning MVP honors at the Milk Cup in Northern Ireland as he helped the U.S. Under-20 squad to the tournament title with a 3-0 record. He also joined Maund on the 2010 All-BIG EAST Preseason Team. Powers played in 18 matches, including four starts, last season and earned BIG EAST All-Rookie honors. His five assists were the second most of any Notre Dame player in 2009.
Powers is one of just three sophomores selected to the Soccer America Preseason All-America Team. The others are Akron’s Zarek Valentin (D) and Virginia’s Will Bates (F).
Notre Dame has seven schools on its 2010 regular-season schedule that appear in the Soccer America Preseason Top 25 poll. Irish opponents Connecticut (#10), UCLA (#11), St. John’s (#15), Northwestern (#16), Louisville (#20), Indiana (#21) and Michigan State (#23) appear in the rankings, which were selected by the Soccer America editors.
The ACC leads all conferences with six teams ranked in the Top 25. The BIG EAST and Big Ten are represented by five teams apiece.
Soccer America Men’s Preseason All-Americans
GOALKEEPERS
PLAYER, SCHOOL, YEAR
Jeffrey Attinella, South Florida, Sr.
Zac MacMath, Maryland, Jr.
Diego Restrepo, Virginia, Sr.
DEFENDERS
PLAYER, SCHOOL, YEAR
Aaron Maund, Notre Dame, Jr.
Karl Reddick, Boston College, Sr.
Kofi Sarkodie, Akron, Jr.
Indy Smith, UNC Wilmington, Sr.
Zarek Valentin, Akron, So.
Bobby Warshaw, Stanford, Sr.
MIDFIELDERS
PLAYER, SCHOOL, YEAR
Anthony Ampaipitakwong, Akron, Sr.
Danny Barrera, UC Santa Barbara, Sr.
Michael Farfan, North Carolina, Sr.
Ethan Finlay, Creighton, Jr.
Cole Grossman, Duke, Sr.
Daniel Keat, Dartmouth, Sr.
Ashley McInnes, Tulsa, Sr.
Dillon Powers, Notre Dame, So.
FORWARDS
PLAYER, SCHOOL, YEAR
Will Bates, Virginia, So.
Matt Eliason, Northwestern, Sr.
Ryan Kinne, Monmouth, Sr.
Samson Malijani, Fairleigh Dickinson, Sr.
Darlington Nagbe, Akron, Jr.
Austin Neil, Tulsa, Jr.
Colin Rolfe, Louisville, Jr.
Billy Schuler, North Carolina, Jr.
Soccer America Men’s Preseason Top 25
RANK/TEAM (2009 RECORD)
1. Akron (23-1-1)
2. North Carolina (16-2-4)
3. Virginia (19-3-3)
4. Maryland (15-6-2)
5. UC Santa Barbara (17-5-2)
6. Tulsa (15-5-2)
7. Wake Forest (17-4-3)
8. Duke (14-7-0)
9. Boston College (14-9-0)
10. Connecticut (11-4-4)
11. UCLA (12-4-4)
12. Monmouth (18-2-2)
13. Stanford (12-6-2)
14. Ohio State (12-5-4)
15. St. John’s (9-3-9)
16. Northwestern (11-5-4)
17. Penn State (12-8-2)
18. NOTRE DAME (11-8-4)
19. South Florida (14-4-3)
20. Louisville (13-3-4)
21. Indiana (12-10-1)
22. Portland (12-6-5)
23. Michigan State (11-8-2)
24. UNC Wilmington (14-3-5)
25. Saint Louis (15-7-0)
Bold indicates 2010 Notre Dame opponent