TERRE HAUTE, IND. -- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology has been picked to finish second in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference in men's soccer this season, in a preseason poll of league coaches released today.

Rose-Hulman received one first-place vote and 70 total points in the poll.  Transylvania University, the defending conference champion, earned seven first-place votes and had a total of 77 poll points.

Head coach Brad Hauter and his Fightin’ Engineer squad shattered several school records with a 15-4-1 mark last fall.

For the first time in men’s soccer school history, Rose-Hulman reached the title match of its league tournament to narrowly miss an NCAA Division III Tournament bid. The Engineers finished second in both the HCAC regular season and tournament standings and recorded a 6-2 mark for the highest league winning percentage in school history.

The 2006 season featured both team and individual awards, honors and records. Rose-Hulman outscored the opposition 37-17 to allow the fewest goals in a season in school history.  Senior Trey Buck (Austin, Texas/Ohio State University) tallied the best goals against average in school history (0.83) and set a school record with six shutouts last season.  Senior Matt Trowbridge (Fort Collins, Colo./Poudre) claimed third-team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American honors after a season that featured eight goals and seven assists for the civil engineering major.

The 2006 season featured nine victories in a 10-match span for the first time in school history. Rose-Hulman tied its season opener against Greenville, then rattled off two streaks of three wins and one loss to move to 6-1-2.  The strong charge of nine wins in 10 matches allowed the Engineers to reach the HCAC title game, where they narrowly fell to NCAA Tournament participant Transylvania University.