SoCon Announces Women's Soccer Preseason Predictions
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNC Greensboro (UNCG) women's soccer team was picked to finish sixth in the Southern Conference (SoCon) Preseason Poll, released Thursday.
Defending SoCon regular season and tournament champion Samford was voted to take the title. The Bulldogs received nine first-place votes and 81 points, while runner-up Furman earned the final first-place vote and 61 points.
Mercer was voted to take third with 60 points, while Western Carolina (52 points) and Chattanooga (51 points) battled it out for fourth and fifth, respectively. The Spartans totaled 47 points. Voting was done by the league's 10 head coaches.
UNCG returns 17 student-athletes from last season's team, including
Caroline Woods, who was voted to the All-Conference second team after leading the Spartans with four goals and one assist totaling a career-high nine points.
Chloe Lausell earned her first-career accolade during her freshman campaign as a key contributor to the Spartans' backline that recorded second shutouts and averaged 1.04 goals against.
Maddy Gilhool also returns as she scored two goals and recorded two assists.
Mel Herrera,
Eliza Radoll, and
Nadia Wilson all saw time last season, each scoring a goal for the Spartans.
The Spartans begin the regular season hosting Charlotte on August 18 at 7:00 p.m.
The SoCon Women's Soccer Championship will feature all 10 schools. The first round will feature two matchups, No. 7 vs. No. 10 and No. 8 vs. No. 9, and will be held at the higher seeds on Oct. 25. The quarterfinals and semifinals, hosted by the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, will take place on Oct. 28 and Oct. 30, respectively. The SoCon Championship will be held at the highest remaining seed on Nov. 5 or Nov. 6.
2022 Women's Soccer Preseason Coaches Poll
| 1. |
Samford (9) |
81 |
| 2. |
Furman (1) |
61 |
| 3. |
Mercer |
60 |
| 4. |
Western Carolina |
52 |
| 5. |
Chattanooga |
51 |
| 6. |
UNCG |
47 |
| 7. |
ETSU |
35 |
| 8. |
The Citadel |
34 |
| 9. |
Wofford |
19 |
| 10. |
VMI |
10 |
