Hope's Cole Pauly, left.
The Hope College men’s soccer team is picked to be in the thick of the MIAA title chase this fall.
The Flying Dutchmen finished runner-up in the MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll with one first-place vote and 13 points. Coaches could not vote for their own teams.
Hope trailed only preseason favorite and last year’s regular-season champion, Calvin University in the eight-team poll. The Knights received seven first-place votes and seven points.
The Flying Dutchmen placed ahead of third-place Trine University, which garnered 19 points. Albion College was fourth with 28 points and followed by Kalamazoo College (29), Adrian College (40), Olivet College (42) and Alma College (46).
Led by head coach David Blahnik, Hope is coming off a 2022 season where the Flying Dutchmen went 7-4-6 overall and took second place in the MIAA standings with a 4-2-1 league record.
Hope returns four All-MIAA honorees from last season, including two first-teamers: midfielder Mario Hrojevic and defender Cole Pauly.
Hrvojevic (Lincolnwood, Illinois / Loyola Academy) is a senior mechanical engineering major. Pauly (Mundelein, Illinois / Mundelein) is a junior.
The Flying Dutchmen also bring back two All-MIAA Second Team honorees: fifth-year senior defender and economics major Jake Lyon (Farmington Hills, Michigan / Marshall) and junior midfielder Seth Walters (St. Joseph, Michigan / St. Joseph).
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