After a year that saw Shawnee State go 4-2-2 in River States Conference play en route to an 8-8-3 overall record in 2024, the men's soccer program at Shawnee State was picked to finish in the same position that it did in RSC action in 2024 -- fourth -- in the 2025 River States Conference Preseason Coaches Poll as announced by conference officials Wednesday afternoon.

Shawnee State, who garnered 57 points in the RSC Preseason Coaches Poll, bettered Midway (Ky.) by 16 points for the fourth position in the rankings. Midway bested Saint Mary-of-the-Woods (41 points to 40 points) to round out the top-five, while Indiana-East (32), Brescia (27), Indiana-Columbus (26) and Kentucky Christian (9) rounded out the remainder of the RSC Preseason Coaches Poll.

Rio Grande, the defending RSC Regular Season and Conference Tournament Champs, was selected to finish first in the poll by nabbing 81 points and nine first-place votes, while West Virginia Tech, who finished with 70 points and the additional first-place tally, followed Rio Grande in the poll. Oakland City's 67 points rounded out the top three positions in the RSC Preseason Coaches Poll.

Each of Shawnee State's top six scorers -- and eight of the Bears' top 10 contributors -- return for the 2025 season, including Nikos Pontikis, Marco Riva, Théo Cavaleiro Trindade, Cameron Thompson, João Coqueti Léo, Alfie Maynard, Belo Bitencourt and Darian Rodrigues. Ephraim Mutombo, Clement Akanyah, Trevor Masanjala, Sekou Mara and Sean Williams also return for Shawnee State -- giving SSU 13 returning letterwinners from last year.

In addition to the 13 returners, a total of 13 newcomers will be joining the roster from the states of Ohio, New Jersey and California as well as the countries of France, Japan, Peru and Spain.

For more information on the Shawnee State men's soccer program, visit https://ssubears.com/sports/mens-soccer and https://www.instagram.com/ssumsoc.