GEORGIAN COURT AND PHILADELPHIA TIE ATOP 2009 CACC WOMEN’S SOCCER PRESEASON POLL
NEW HAVEN, CT - After battling for the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) women's soccer championship last season, Georgian Court University and Philadelphia University tied for the top spot in the 2009 preseason poll. Both garnered 160 points to top the poll, which was voted upon by the 13 CACC head coaches. The Lady Rams picked up seven of the 13 first place votes, while the Lions received the remaining six.
Holy Family University was just behind Georgian Court and Philadelphia in third place with 148 points. Caldwell College was picked fourth on all 13 ballots to finish with 130 points, while Felician College was chosen fifth with 102 points.
The 2008 CACC Rookie of the Year, Kelly Lyons, returns for Georgian Court after leading the conference in goals (22) and points (48) as a freshman. She was named to the Daktronics All-East Region first team and was a Daktronics honorable mention All-American. Senior goalie Lindsay Hammond, the 2008 CACC Tournament MVP, is back after recording three shutouts in last season's tournament. She was also a second team All-CACC pick. The Lions earned a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Philadelphia in last season's CACC Tournament Championship en route to securing a spot in the Division II NCAA Regional for the first time in program history. The Lions went 12-7-5 overall and 7-1-3 in CACC contests last year.
Philadelphia, the 2008 CACC regular-season champion, went 12-7-4 overall and 8-0-3 in conference play last season. The Lady Rams lost seven seniors to graduation and will be led by tri-captains, seniors Cari Schenkel and Jill Sokolski and junior Natalie Vespe. Vespe, sophomore Gabrielle Haden and junior Sara Redka are the leading returning scorers for the squad after notching 13, 10 and nine points last year, respectively.
Holy Family went 9-11-2 overall in 2008 and 7-2-2 in conference play before falling to Georgian Court, 1-0, in the semifinals of the CACC Tournament. The Tigers have gone 45-5-4 in regular-season conference games under sixth-year head coach Mike Biddle. The leading returning scorer for the Tigers is sophomore forward Dawn Curry, who registered 10 goals and five assists as a freshman.
The 2009 season gets underway with five games on Thursday, Aug. 27, as Philadelphia, Caldwell, Felician, Post University and Chestnut Hill College open their campaigns. Conference play commences on Sept. 2 when Philadelphia visits Chestnut Hill. The first busy weekend for conference games is Saturday, Sept. 12, when 12 of the 13 CACC schools are in action. Conference newcomer, Concordia College, will host its first CACC game on the 12th against Goldey-Beacom College.
The complete 2009 CACC Women's Soccer preseason poll is below.
Preseason Coaches' Poll
School 2008 Records Points
T1. Philadelphia (7) 12-7-4/8-0-3 CACC 160
T1. Georgian Court (6) 12-7-5/7-1-3 160
3. Holy Family 9-11-2/7-2-2 148
4. Caldwell 8-11-1/7-3-1 130
5. Felician 10-11/6-5 102
6. Dominican 6-11-1/5-5-1 92
7. Nyack 10-8/6-5 84
8. Wilmington 5-11-2/4-6-1 80
9. Post 6-12-2/5-5-1 76
10. Goldey-Beacom 5-9/3-8 52
11. Chestnut Hill 5-15/2-9 49
12. Bloomfield 2-15-1/0-11 30
13. Concordia 4-13-1/0-8-1* 20
()-First Place Votes
*-Record as member of ECC
