BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State College Bears have been picked to finish in third place in the Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference (MASCAC) men's soccer standings for the 2009 season.  The MASCAC men's soccer preseason poll was released on Tuesday by MASCAC Director of Media Relations, Jim Seavey.

In a vote of the league's eight coaches, Bridgewater tallied 45 points to finish behind Salem State and preseason favorite Framingham State.

Framingham received six of the eighth first place votes and amassed a total of 62 points.  Salem totalled 46 points which included one first place vote. 

Head Coach Brendan Adams (8th Year) returns five starters from the 2008 squad led by senior goaltender and reigning MASCAC Player of the Year, Ryan Seifert (Ludlow, MA).  Seifert posted a record of 11-5-1 last season with 89 saves, seven shutouts and a 0.81 goals against average. He set the Bears' single-season goal against average record, breaking the previous mark of 0.90 set by Pat Hughes in 1990.

Senior forward Luke Brewer (Edgartown, MA), senior defender Tim Cuprinski (Brockton, MA), senior midfielder Matt Daniels (South Easton, MA) and sophomore midfielder Dan Roberts (Braintree, MA) are the other returning starters.

Brewer led the team in scoring last season with 12 points (4G, 4A), while Daniels was third with ten points (4G, 2A).  Sophomore forward Chris Swindell (Milford, MA) finished second on the team in scoring with 11 points (4G, 3A) as the Bears return their three top point producers from a year ago.