CENTER VALLEY, Pa. - The Navy men's soccer team has been voted fifth in the 2016 Patriot League preseason poll. The preseason poll is voted on by the league's head coaches and men's soccer sports information contacts.

American narrowly edged out Boston University to take the top spot in the preseason poll. American received six first-place votes and 148 voting points, while Boston received 10 first-place votes and 147 voting points. American and Boston are both receiving votes in the NSCAA Preseason Top 25 Poll.

Colgate, the defending Patriot League Regular Season Champion, was picked third and Lehigh, the defending Patriot League Tournament Champion, was selected fourth. Navy was fifth and was followed by Bucknell and Army, who tied for sixth place. Holy Cross and Loyola tied for eighth and Lafayette rounded out the 10-team poll.

The 11-member preseason all-conference team consisted of only players from the top four teams in the preseason poll (American, Boston U., Colgate and Lehigh). The team consisted of nine seniors and two juniors.

First-year head coach Tim O'Donohue takes command of the Navy program after spending the last five seasons at UConn as the associate head coach. In his five years at UConn, O'Donohue helped lead the program to the NCAA Tournament four times, including three straight appearances in the NCAA Quarterfinals. The Huskies had an overall record of 68-22-21 (.707) during O'Donohue's tenure.

Prior to his time at UConn, O'Donohue was the head coach at Division III Stevens Institute of Technology for 10 seasons from 2001-10. O'Donohue posted an overall head coaching record of 165-21-23 while at Stevens and his winning percentage of .844 is the highest in Division III history and the fourth-highest across all divisions.

Navy tied for fifth place in the Patriot League in 2015 with 12 points and a 4-5-0 record, but missed out on the six-team postseason tournament due to tiebreakers. Navy had an overall record of 8-9-1 in 2015.

Navy returns three former all-conference players to this year's squad, including team captain Daniel Camuti. Camuti, a midfielder, was named to the All-Patriot League Third Team in 2014. Additionally, senior forward Sam Bascom and junior midfielder Brock Dudley were named to the All-Patriot League Second Team in 2015.

Navy has the most overall wins of any team in the Patriot League over the last three seasons (2013-15) with 35. American has 32 wins over that period, while Bucknell and Boston each have 30.

Navy will open the 2016 season this weekend at the Aaron Olitsky Memorial Classic in Charleston, S.C. Navy will play at the College of Charleston on Friday at 7:30 PM and will then face Furman on Sunday at 1:00 PM. Navy's home opener will be against Northern Illinois on Friday, Sept. 2 at 7:00 PM.

Navy men's soccer tickets can be purchased by calling 1-800-US4-NAVY or by visiting the "tickets" tab on navysports.com.

2016 Patriot League Preseason Poll1. American, 148 points (6 first-place votes)2. Boston University, 147 (10)3. Colgate, 130 (3)4. Lehigh, 126 (1)5. Navy, 806. Bucknell, 736. Army, 738. Holy Cross, 488. Loyola, 4810. Lafayette, 27
2016 Preseason All-Patriot LeagueFelix De Bona, Boston University (Sr., F)Ethan Kutler, Colgate (Sr., F)Dale Ludwig, American (Sr., M)Panos Nakhid, American (Sr., M)Anthony Viteri, Boston University (Jr., M)Jared Stroud, Colgate (Jr., M)Jake Garcia, American (Sr., D)David Asbjornsson, Boston University (Sr., D)Zach Tamen, Colgate (Sr., D)Justin Worley, Lehigh (Sr., D)Matt Gilbert, Boston University (Sr., GK) Preseason Offensive Player of the Year: Ethan Kutler, ColgatePreseason Midfielder of the Year: Anthony Viteri, Boston UniversityPreseason Defensive Player of the Year: David Asbjornsson, Boston University