INDIANAPOLIS – Quincy University has been tabbed by the league coaches to successfully defend its Great Lakes Valley Conference Women’s Soccer Championship this fall, it was announced by the conference office Thursday. The Lady Hawks captured both the conference regular-season title and tournament crown en route to an 18-1-4 record last season, including a 12-0-3 mark in league play. They garnered 14 of the 16 first-place votes and totaled 224 points in the GLVC Women’s Soccer Preseason Poll.
Truman State University (194 points) and Rockhurst University (188) have been picked to finish second and third, respectively, and both schools garnered one first-place vote each. Bellarmine University (186) and the University of Wisconsin-Parkside (185) are slated to finish fourth and fifth in the conference standings.
Quincy is poised to reload as the two-time defending conference champions as the Lady Hawks will look to replace graduated seniors Jaclyn Mastroianni and Jodi Chapie, who were named the GLVC Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year, respectively. Reigning GLVC Coach of the Year Dave Musso will look to junior midfielder Ashley Burton and junior defender Taylor Lindwedel, who were first-team All-GLVC picks last year, to help guide the Lady Hawks back to their ninth straight NCAA Tournament appearance.
Truman closed the 2013 season with a 12-5-4 record and a first-round appearance in the NCAA Midwest Regional, following its first-ever season competing in the GLVC in which the Bulldogs finished second overall at 10-2-3. Senior defender
Lauren Seawright and junior midfielder Alexis Heffernan are returning NSCAA All-Midwest Region selections, as well as second- and third-team All-GLVC picks as well. Junior defender Jessica Hanson was also a third-team All-Conference pick and joins two other starters as returners to the 2014 team.
Rockhurst was picked by the league coaches to finish third overall after the Hawks tied with Bellarmine and UW-Parkside for third last year. Rockhurst finished the season with a 13-6-3 record (9-3-3 GLVC) and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to No. 1-ranked and eventual NCAA Champion Grand Valley State. Senior defender Kasey Lierz and senior forward Taylor Skala return to the Hawks after earning first- and third-team All-Region team honors, respectively. Lierz was also a first-team All-GLVC pick, while Skala was a second-team honoree.
Following Bellarmine and UW-Parkside in the preseason poll is Drury University (147 points) in sixth, William Jewell College (129) and the University of Indianapolis (115) in seventh and eighth, respectively, and the University of Southern Indiana (113) and Lewis University (111) rounding out the top 10. The remaining conference contingent includes McKendree University (97), Missouri S&T (65), University of Missouir-St. Louis (60), Maryville University (45), University of Illinois Springfield (33) and Saint Joseph’s College (28).
The 16 GLVC women’s soccer teams will compete in a 15-game round-robin schedule during the regular season with the top eight teams earning a berth to the GLVC Championship Tournament. The top four seeds will host quarterfinal matches on campus on Nov. 2 with the four remaining teams heading to the site of the top remaining seed for the semifinals and final on Nov. 7 and 9.
The 2014 season officially gets underway on Thursday, Sept. 4, with three schools in action, including Drury, Maryville and McKendree.
The complete 2014 GLVC Women’s Soccer Preseason Poll follows:
2014 GLVC Women’s Soccer Preseason Poll
|
RANK |
SCHOOL (1ST) |
POINTS |
|
1. |
Quincy (14) |
224 |
|
2. |
Truman (1) |
194 |
|
3. |
Rockhurst (1) |
188 |
|
4. |
Bellarmine |
186 |
|
5. |
UW-Parkside |
185 |
|
6. |
Drury |
147 |
|
7. |
William Jewell |
129 |
|
8. |
Indianapolis |
115 |
|
9. |
Southern Indiana |
113 |
|
10. |
Lewis |
111 |
|
11. |
McKendree |
97 |
|
12. |
Missouri S&T |
65 |
|
13. |
Missouri-St. Louis |
60 |
|
14. |
Maryville |
45 |
|
15. |
Illinois Springfield |
33 |
|
16. |
Saint Joseph’s |
28 |