SELINSGROVE, PA - The Susquehanna University men's soccer team has been picked to finish fifth in the Commonwealth Conference during the upcoming season, according to the league's eight head coaches.

Susquehanna, under sixth-year head coach Jim Findlay, finished 8-9 in 2002 and placed fifth in the conference last season with a 3-4 league mark. The Crusaders return 10 starters in hopes of posting its second winning season since 1993, when the Crusaders won a school-record 11 games.

Defending NCAA Division III champion Messiah received six first-place votes to earn the top spot in the poll in search of its sixth straight conference title, followed by Elizabethtown, Moravian, Lebanon Valley, Susquehanna, Widener, Juniata and Albright. The top four teams in the standings will compete in the conference playoffs for the league title and an automatic berth in the NCAA Division III Men's Soccer tournament.

The Crusaders open the 2003 season on Saturday, August 30 against Neumann in the Lycoming Kickoff Classic. Susquehanna hosts Scranton in the home opener on Tuesday, September 9 and battles Albright in the conference opener on Saturday, October 4.