RICHMOND, Va.– The University of Delaware men’s soccer team, which returns its three top point scorers and its Most Valuable Player from last year’s team, was picked to finish No. 11 in the pre-season Colonial Athletic Association Coaches Poll released Wednesday afternoon.

Third-year head coach Ian Hennessy (at right) welcomes the return of 10 letterwinners from last year’s 3-13-2 team, including last year’s Alumni Association Team MVP Award winner Darren Christie and its three top offensive threats: Paul Donaher, Demar Stephenson and Ben Rodkey. Last year the Hens went 3-7-1 and finished ninth in the conference for the second straight year. Delaware will look to advance to the six-team CAA Tournament for the first time since joining the conference in 2002.

However, given that the Hens have never finished higher than ninth in the conference, Hennessy said the ranking is deserved.

“We haven’t done anything to warrant a higher pick yet,” he said.

Old Dominion University, which is riding a streak of six straight NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship appearances, was picked to finish first, followed by Virginia Commonwealth and Drexel. ODU received eight first-place votes and 118 total points while VCU received three first-place votes and 109 total points. Drexel, which shared the CAA regular-season title in 2007, finished third in balloting, followed closely by Hofstra, which received one first-place vote, and Towson, which advanced to last year’s CAA championship game. James Madison was picked sixth in the poll, followed by William & Mary, George Mason, Northeastern, UNC Wilmington, Delaware and Georgia State.

The CAA is regarded as one of the top men’s soccer conferences in the nation, and it has sent multiple teams to the NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship in 11 of the 13 past seasons and has had at least one team advance to the final 16 of the NCAA’s in five of the last six years.

The Hens opened pre-season practice Wednesday afternoon, and they begin the 2008 regular season Aug. 29 at Rutgers before coming home to host the Marist Red Foxes on Sept. 1.