If the Great Lakes Valley Conference pre-season coaches polls are any indication of how the upcoming 2006 season is going to play out, the UMR men's and women's soccer teams will have some work to do to prove the coaches wrong and earn a playoff berth in the process.

The Miners were tabbed for a ninth place finish in the GLVC in the upcoming year, while the Lady Miners were picked to finish 13th in the 14-team league. The men's squad, which earned a berth to the GLVC Tournament in its first year in the league with a seventh place showing, was in a tight pack of teams between seventh and tenth that was separated by only nine points.

Defending regular season champion Southern Illinois Edwardsville received 12 of the 14 first place votes to get the top spot in the poll, followed by 2005 tournament champion Rockhurst; Quincy and Wisconsin-Parkside were separated by just three points for third and fourth, respectively. Lewis, Northern Kentucky, Drury and Indianapolis were slated for the next four positions ahead of UMR, which received 78 points in the poll to put it four points ahead of Bellarmine and well ahead of the other four league teams.

Meanwhile, the Lady Miners were picked ahead of Kentucky Wesleyan -- the only team UMR beat last year in GLVC play -- in the women's poll that was led by defending league champion Northern Kentucky. SIU Edwardsville was picked to finish second, followed by Wisconsin-Parkside and Rockhurst.

UMR's men will start the soccer season August 25 with a game against St. Mary's, while the Lady Miners kick off the 2006 campaign August 26 at home against Central Methodist. Conference play begins for both teams at home Sept. 3 against Quincy.