WAC Coaches Select Seattle U, Meza, Acton-Petronotis as Preseason Favorites
DENVER – Seattle U is the preseason favorite to win the 2020-21 Western Athletic Conference men's soccer title and the Redhawks' Noe Meza and Alex Acton-Petronotis were selected as the WAC Preseason Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year respectively in a vote of the league's 11 head coaches, who could not vote for their own team or players.
The Redhawks received nine of 11 first-place votes and 98 total points to earn the preseason nod. Utah Valley was selected second with a first-place vote and 81 points. Air Force was selected third with 79 points, followed by Grand Canyon, who earned fourth with the final first-place vote and 65 total points. UNLV was selected fifth with 63 points, followed by San José State in sixth points. California Baptist earned the seventh spot with 54 points, followed by UT Rio Grande Valley in eighth, Houston Baptist in ninth, UIW in 10th and newcomer Dixie State in 11th.
Meza and Acton-Petronotis were joined on the Preseason All-WAC squad by teammates James Morris and Akili Kasim. San José State was the only other team with multiple players honored as forward Rudi Castro and midfielder Max Allen each picked up the preseason recognition. Also earning recognition were Air Force's Tristan Trager, Grand Canyon's Esai Easley, UNLV's Billy Jones, UT Rio Grande Valley's William Akio and Utah Valley's Mark Brown.
2020-21 Preseason Men's Soccer Coaches Poll
| Rank |
Team (1st Place Votes) |
Points |
| 1. |
Seattle U (9) |
98 |
| 2. |
Utah Valley (1) |
81 |
| 3. |
Air Force |
79 |
| 4. |
Grand Canyon (1) |
65 |
| 5. |
UNLV |
63 |
| 6. |
San José State |
60 |
| 7. |
California Baptist |
54 |
| 8. |
UT Rio Grande Valley |
43 |
| 9. |
Houston Baptist |
28 |
| 10. |
UIW |
23 |
| 11. |
Dixie State |
11 |
2020-21 Preseason All-WAC Team
James Morris, So.,F, Seattle U
Rudi Castro, Sr., F, San José State
William Akio, Sr., F, UT Rio Grande Valley
Noe Meza, R-Sr., MF, Seattle U
Max Allen, Sr., MF, San José State
Tristan Trager, Jr., MF, Air Force
Alex Acton-Petronotis, Sr., D, Seattle U
Billy Jones, Sr., D, UNLV
Esai Easley, Jr., D, Grand Canyon
Mark Brown, R-Sr., D, Utah Valley
Akili Kasim, R-Jr., GK, Seattle U
Preseason Offensive Player of the Year: Noe Meza, Seattle U
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year: Alex Acton-Petronotis, Seattle U