UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (August 20, 2003) - The Penn State men's soccer team has been ranked 16th nationally in the NSCAA/Adidas coaches preseason Top 25 poll.

The NSCAA/Adidas coaches poll is the second preseason poll to rank the Nittany Lions in the Top 25. CollegeSoccerNews.com tabbed Penn State No. 7 in the country.

The Nittany Lions, which have three of the top 10 teams on their schedule, will open their season against the NSCAA/Adidas' top-ranked UCLA squad Aug. 29th in Fullerton, Calif. Penn State will also face Cal State-Fullerton during its west coast trip on Aug. 31.

Maryland (Oct. 16), which is ranked second, No. 7 Indiana (Sept. 26) and No. 13 Boston College (Sept. 12) are also on the slate this season. The battle with the Eagles on Sept. 12 is the Nittany Lions' home opener in the Penn State Nike Classic and will be televised by CN-8, a Comcast cable system channel.

Penn State returns seven starters from last year's squad, including All-America candidate Chad Severs (Ocean City, N.J.) and captain Gabe Bernstein (Maplewood, N.J.).

Penn State, which went 16-8-0 and made it to the 2002 NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight, opens its exhibition schedule versus Binghamton 6 p.m. tonight in Oxford, N.Y.

For more information on the Penn State men's soccer team, please visit Penn State's official athletics website, www.GoPSUsports.com.

NSCAA/Adidas Top 25 Pre-Season National Rankings
1. UCLA
2. Maryland
3. Stanford
4. Wake Forest
5. Southern Methodist
5. St. John's
7. Indiana
8. Creighton
9. Clemson
10. Connecticut
11. St. Louis
12. Notre Dame
13. Boston College
14. Virginia
15. Furman
16. Penn State
17. California
18. Wisconsin-Milwaukee
19. North Carolina
20. Coastal Carolina
21. UC-Santa Barbara
22. Loyola Marymount
22. New Mexico
22. Syracuse
22. Virginia Commonwealth
22. Portland