Rio Grande men No. 3 in NAIA preseason Top 25

RSC/NAIA Sports Information
     KANSAS CITY, Mo. – On the heels of an appearance in the national semifinals last season, the University of Rio Grande is the No. 3 pick in the 2023 Preseason NAIA Men's Soccer Coaches' Top 25.
     The poll, which was determined through balloting of a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences, Association of Independent Institutions and Unaffiliated Groups, was released by the national office on Wednesday afternoon.
     The RedStorm, who were tabbed as the preseason favorite in the River States Conference last week, received 455 points in the voting.
     Head coach Scott Morrissey's club, which finished 18-4-2 overall and 8-0-1 in the RSC a year ago, returns senior midfielder Vilius Labutis (Dublin, Ireland) - a First Team All-America pick, who was also named the River States Conference Player of the Year, the RSC Offensive Player of the Year and the RSC Newcomer of the Year - as well as senior defender Rodrigo Basso (Santiago, Chile), who was an honorable mention All-American pick.
     Labutis ranked second on the team with 18 goals and 43 points last fall, while his seven assists were fifth on the club.
     Rio Grande is slated to opens its season on Friday, Aug. 18, at Saint Xavier University in Chicago.
     Reigning NAIA National Champion Bethel (Ind.), which ousted Rio Grande in last year's national semifinals on its way to a 24-1-1 finish, tops the poll after gathering all 18 first-place votes and 498 points.
     Mobile (Ala.), which went 18-4-1 last year, finished ahead of Rio in second place with 482 points, while Dalton State (Ga.) and Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) rounded out the top five with 432 and 427 points, respectively.
     WVU-Tech was the only other RSC school to receive mention in the voting, tallying 27 points to tie both Concordia (Neb.) and Missouri Baptist for 32nd place.
     The Top 25 is determined by a points system based on how each voter ranks the best teams. A team receives 30 points for each first-place vote, 29 for second-place and so on through the list.
     The highest and lowest ranking for each team (a non-rating is considered a low rating) is removed and the team's ranking will be recalculated with an additional point added to each team for every ballot (including discounted ballots) that the teams appear on.