NORTH BOSTON, N.Y. — The Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference released the results of its 2024 Men’s Soccer Preseason Coaches’ Poll on Aug. 21, and the Nittany Lions were voted into fifth place.

League coaches predicted that Mount Aloysius College will win the AMCC title this year, voting the Mounties into the top spot in the poll. Penn State Behrend took second place, and defending conference champion Alfred State College came in third place.

Penn State Altoona men’s soccer finished fifth in the 2023 AMCC standings, when the Nittany Lions compiled 7-6-1 overall record that included a 6-3 mark against conference opponents. The team’s six AMCC wins were its most in a season since 2016, helping propel it to a conference postseason tournament berth.

Head coach Andrew Beverly enters his third year with Penn State Altoona this season, and two of his returners were highlighted in the poll as “Players to Watch” this fall: defender Owen Myers, of Spring Grove, and forward Ethan Firth, of York.

Myers started all 14 games for the Nittany Lions last season and was voted to the second team of the All-AMCC squad. He helped lead a Penn State Altoona defensive unit that limited opponents to just 0.78 goals per game in conference play, and offensively, he recorded one assist.

Firth also started all 14 games for Penn State Altoona last season, finishing the schedule tied for third on his team in goals scored, two, and second in shots attempted, 20, while putting seven shots on goal. Among all players in the AMCC, he was 32nd in shot attempts.

Penn State Altoona men’s soccer starts its 2024 schedule on the road, competing in the two-day Nate Ferraco Classic in Beaver Falls. The Nittany Lions will take on Grove City College on Friday, Aug.30, at 6 p.m., then face Geneva College on Saturday, Aug. 31, at 6:30 p.m.