WALNUT CREEK, Calif- After a preseason vote of coaches in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA), the nationally-ranked Sonoma State men's soccer team has been selected to win the North Division for the seventh consecutive season. The coaches also recognized the Seawolves as the favorites to claim the 2010 CCAA Championship Tournament title that will be held at Warrior Stadium on the campus of Cal State Stanislaus in Turlock on Nov. 5-7.

"Although it is an honor to be picked by the coaches to win the CCAA, we know that we have a lot of work to do," head coach Marcus Ziemer said, who will begin his 20th-year at the helm for SSU. "The North Division is going to be much improved, so just winning the North will be a big challenge, let alone the CCAA."

Sonoma State, who fell in the CCAA title game one season ago, received 65 points 10 first-place votes to repeat as the North Division champion and six votes to claim the conference title.

Finishing the 2009 season with a 14-5-4 overall record and a 10-3-3 mark in conference play, Ziemer will return eight starters and many other key role players as well as a talented group of freshman and transfers to continue the winning Sonoma State tradition and bring home its first national title since 2002. It will take 18 matches to decide their postseason fate, including two non-conference friendlies against Fresno Pacific (Sept. 4) and Dominican (Sept. 7) at the top of the schedule. Then it's CCAA business as usual.

Eight of its first 10 conference matches will be played within the friendly confines of Seawolf Soccer Field, but Sonoma State will end the regular season with five of its last six on the road. One of those will include another highly anticipated matchup with Cal State Dominguez Hills, whom the Seawolves lost three of their five matches against last season. On Oct. 17, the Seawolves will square off with the Toros at 2 p.m. in Carson looking for their first victory over Cal State Dominguez Hills since a 2-0 victory on Oct. 5, 2007.

The annual Humboldt State rivalry fires up when the Seawolves travel to Humboldt State on Oct. 22. The series will then change scenery, as the two teams will play two days later on Oct. 24 in Rohnert Park. Sonoma State will wrap up its 2010 regular schedule the following weekend at San Francisco State (Oct. 29) and at Cal State Monterey Bay (Oct. 31).

National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-West Region team selections Ryan Hall, Trevor Hurst and Cam Vickers are among the key returners this season, as well as Brandon Dela Cruz, David Holleran, Ebby Lombardi and Jomed Tejan. Taylor Jones, who led the team in goals last season, will also play a huge role for the Seawolves again in 2010.

It will be an unfamiliar face in the goal box this season, though, as Brook Johnson, the reigning SSU Male Athlete of the Year completed his eligibility and graduated from the university last spring. Three student-athletes will be competing for the starting job – Ryan Smitchger, Andrew Ball and Juan Sosa. Smitchger and Ball served as Johnson's backup last season and Sosa, who is making a return to the team after taking a year off, also played behind Johnson in 2008.

Ziemer will welcome in a highly touted group of recruits to the mix this season, including Brian Clementino (Sonoma/Sonoma Valley HS), Taylor Varnadore (Sebastopol/Analy HS), Thomas Yeandle (Orange/Lutheran HS) and Sean Callahan (San Diego/San Diego Jewish Academy).

When the season starts on Sept. 4 at Fresno Pacific, Ziemer and company will look to getting back to the conference championships for the 10th time in the past 11 seasons and a NCAA tournament appearance for the fourth straight year.