Franklin Pierce won its second DII men’s soccer championship trophy in 2022, so to see the Ravens undefeated atop the national rankings is a surprise to no one. However, there are some teams turning some heads in the early stages of the season and hope to keep the momentum rolling into November.
Let’s take a look at a few of the early season surprises in the 2023 DII men’s soccer season.
DII MEN’S SOCCER: Stats, scores, history and latest news
Limestone
Limestone had a rough 2022 season, finishing 6-6-5 and missing out on the DII NCAA tournament. All six of those losses were by one goal, and that usually means if a team tightens things up and a few things go their way, things are easily remedied. That is the case thus far in 2023.
The Saints are now 5-0-1 and have not had much trouble along the way. Keeper Henrik Dahl has posted four shutouts and has allowed just three goals as the Saints have outscored their opponents 17-3 in 2023. Limestone was projected to finish sixth in the SAC, and although the Saints have a pair of All-Conference stars in forward Mark Radoki and defender Stefan Roeb, it has been the addition of Claudel Ngoubou (pictured above) that has been the difference maker so far. Ngoubou is in the top five of the SAC in goals, assists and points and his goal against Lenoir-Rhyne in a key SAC matchup was the game-winner.
Chico State
The Wildcats were 6-12 in 2021 and improved to a respectable 7-5-8 last season. Even with the experience of 10 of their starting 11 back from 2022, their 6-0 start to the 2023 season is quite impressive and surprising, especially after not even receiving a vote in the preseason top 25.
Perhaps most impressive is how this Wildcats’ defense has put the 0 in 6-0. Chico State has six wins and six shutouts, so simple math shows this defense has been, essentially, a brick wall to opposing offenses. Keeper Emanuel Padilla has started all six games in net — and played all but 16 minutes so far — and has recorded 21 saves thus far. Miles Rice has led the way with four goals, but this is a really balanced attack that is second in the CCAA in scoring thus far into the season.
East Stroudsburg
Like Chico State, the Warriors haven’t had much success the past two seasons. After back-to-back losing seasons, going a combined 15-17-5, East Stroudsburg has come out of the gates hot, now 4-0-2 on the young season. That hot start helped the Warriors crack the national top 25 for the first time since…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at NCAA.com > soccer-men d2 articles and video…