Monmouth men could be NCAA Cinderella

This continues our series of daily articles previewing each men's and women's college conference. All the conference previews can be found here.

It’s back to square one for the America East and Northeast conferences and we make our early predictions as to the front-runners.

America East

New Hampshire claimed last season’s regular season title on the strength of its defense which ranked best in the conference. Goalkeeper of the Year Colin O’Donnell is back but he’ll be without his most trusted back Joe Annese, who was a first team all-conference defender. If the program can replicate last year’s defensive effort the offense should take care of itself.

With the loss of top scorer Carlos Villa, not to mention all conference first-team attacker Ivan Guarin and Cedomir Tomcic, things might be tough for the Hartford Hawks this season. Where the team finds is offense is yet to be determined.

Coming off a conference tournament title, Stony Brook is positioned to assume a more consistent role atop the conference. Sophomores Berian Gobeil (striker), Leonardo Fernandes (midfielder) and Anthony Rogic (sophomores) give the program a core to be excited about.

Great balance and individual talent on both sides of the ball didn’t deliver the ultimate goal last season for Binghamton, a program that might actually benefit from losing a key player or two. Look for sophomore striker Jake Keegan to continue his maturation into superstardom.

The defense should continue to produce the effort that led the conference in shutouts, and junior Michael Bustamante will continue to control the middle of the field for a Boston University program that always has a major upside.

UMBC has the two most lethal players in the conference in Midfielder of the Year Levi Houapeu and Striker of the Year Andrew Bulls. The program is hoping that translates into a few more wins in 2010.

Vermont and Albany are both vying to climb out of the America East cellar. D.J. Edler and Yannick Lewis will be key ingredients for Vermont’s ambitions.

Northeast

Monmouth is still the standard in the conference and that isn’t sure to change anytime soon. Last year’s Player of the Year Ryane Kinne, will lead the offense while goalkeeper Bryan Meredith will patrol things for the defense.

St. Francis (NY) is losing strong talent with all conference defenders Anthony Matos and Javier Gonzalez having graduated alongside midfielder Semso Nikocevic. Expect a dip for the Terries.

Quinnipiac was equipped to compete with Monmouth last season with a strong defense centered around goalkeeper Frederick Hall. Of course, Hall has departed, so the rebuilding of the program will largely depend on his replacement.

An incredible freshman season by Dominic Reinold was good enough to lead the conference in goals and points but didn’t deliver Player of the Year honors. Here’s guessing the Farleigh-Dickinson(m) star wins at least one of those by the time his career ends.

Chris Wheeler and Eric Detzel will be key for Mount St. Mary’s(m) which has a chance to climb out of the middle of the pack and become a serious contender.

Sacred Heart, Robert Morris, Bryant, Long Island(m), St. Francis (PA) and Central Connecticut State(m) round out the rest of the conference.

Jakeem Johnson is an exciting young goal scorer for Long Island(m) while Central Connecticut State(m) will be led by midfielder Robert Cavener.