Lees-McRae Selected Preseason Favorite by Women’s Soccer Coaches
High Point, NC> The Lees-McRae College
women’s soccer team will look to build on the strong
foundation established over the past two years, as Nick Whiting
takes the reins following one of the most successful seasons in
program history. The Bobcats rose to new heights last season,
capturing the conference regular season and tournament titles for
the first time in school history, securing the programs first-ever
berth in the NCAA Tournament with their 13-5-3 overall and 11-1
league records.
Whiting and the Bobcats return 16 letter-winners from last
year’s squad, including reigning conference freshman of the
year Meagan Thornton, and three-time all-league honoree Mary Dorn.
The Bobcats will rely on a seasoned veteran corps led by Dorn,
fellow senior Emily Jones, and juniors MaryBeth Sullivan and
Kaitlyn Kerrigan, to continue their rise through the ranks on both
the regional and national level.
“Being ranked atop of Conference Carolinas is quite an
honor, but one we do not take lightly as it is a conference full of
talented teams and great coaches,” said Whiting. “We
will continue to improve our focus and work rate in order to be
ready for the regular season.”
After coming off the best season in team history, the
Limestone College women’s soccer team
returns three All-Conference selections and one All-Region defender
in Lauren Lanham. Last year, the Saints set a number of program
records en route to a 13-5-1 overall record (9-3 conference) and an
appearance in the Conference Carolinas Tournament Semifinals for
the second time in three seasons.
Limestone will bring back a solid group of veterans that played
a major role in last season’s success while also counting on
several newcomers to make an immediate contribution on both sides
of the ball. Sophomore forward Gabriella Reid, is the team’s
top returning scorer with 10 goals in 2011, while seniors Holli
Schwartz and Ashley Spanitz will anchor a stingy defense that
allowed just 17 goals this past year.
The Belmont Abbey College women’s soccer
team returns three all-conference performers and four of its top
six point producers from last year’s 12-7-2 (10-2 conference)
unit that reached the Conference Carolinas Tournament Final for the
seventh-straight year. Forward Amanda Gebreyesus, and midfielders
Slivia Vazquez and Alana Ryczek were all named second team
all-conference, as Gebreyesus tied for the team lead with nine
goals, while Ryczek and Vazquez totaled three and two,
respectively. Goalkeeper Hannah Kohls returns for her sophomore
year in the Abbey net as she accumulated a 1.02 goals against
average with 54 saves.
Mount Olive finished fourth in the poll with
Pfeiffer fifth followed by Queens, King,
Erskine, North Greenville, Converse, Coker and
Barton respectively rounding-out the poll
standings.
|
Conference Carolinas Women’s Soccer Preseason
Poll
|
|
Rank
|
School
|
Number of
1st Place Votes
|
Points
|
|
1.
|
Lees-McRae
|
6
|
110
|
|
2.
|
Limestone
|
2
|
105
|
|
3.
|
Belmont Abbey
|
1
|
103
|
|
4.
|
Mount Olive
|
-
|
90
|
|
5.
|
Pfeiffer
|
2
|
85
|
|
6.
|
Queens
|
1
|
73
|
|
7.
|
King
|
-
|
61
|
|
8.
|
Erskine
|
-
|
51
|
|
9.
|
North Greenville
|
-
|
41
|
|
10.
|
Converse
|
-
|
27
|
|
11.
|
Coker
|
-
|
26
|
|
12.
|
Barton
|
-
|
20
|