West Chester Selected First in PSAC Women's Soccer Preseason Poll
LOCK HAVEN, Pa. - The West Chester Golden Rams have been picked first in the PSAC Women's Soccer Preseason Poll, which is voted on by the league's head coaches.
The Golden Rams were the conference runners-up in the regular season last year and earned the third seed in the NCAA Atlantic Regional.
WCU will be led by Kara Parvel, an All-PSAC First Team Forward in 2015. Parvel was seventh in the league in points scored last year.
West Chester had three first place votes.
East Stroudsburg, the defending PSAC Tournament Champions and NCAA Atlantic Regional Champions, were tabbed second in the poll. The Warriors had the most first place votes of any team, racking up eight first place tallies.
The Warriors finished seventh in the PSAC regular season in 2015, but went on a run to the regional championship. ESU returns three all-conference selections this season (Shea Neal, Sammi Ortiz, and Laurel Neira).
Slippery Rock garnered a pair of first place votes and comes in at third in the poll. The Rock returns Dara Demich, who was fourth in the league in points scored in 2015.
Gannon was on top of the PSAC standings for the majority of 2015, including a stint as the number one team in the country. This year, following the graduation of PSAC Athlete of the Year Mani Brueckner, GU is fourth in the preseason poll.
Fifth place in the poll goes to Kutztown. The Golden Bears will look to qualify for the PSAC Tournament for the ninth consecutive year, but will have to face the graduation of two First Team All-PSAC honorees (Diana Malanga and Sam Busillo) from 2015.
Edinboro is sixth in the poll, returning Halle Hammer, the lone freshman to earn First Team All-PSAC laurels last season.
After earning the sixth seed in last year's PSAC Tournament, Shippensburg is seventh in this year's preseason poll. Bloomsburg was the eighth seed in last year's PSAC Tournament and is picked to finish in the spot again in 2016.
The top eight teams in the 2016 PSAC Women's Soccer Preseason Poll are the same eight teams that qualified for last year's conference tournament.
At ninth in the poll is California, followed by IUP, Seton Hill, and Mercyhurst.
Clarion is 13th in the poll, but did receive one first place vote.
Millersville, Mansfield, Lock Haven, and Pitt-Johnstown round out the selections.
The complete poll can be found below. First place votes are in parenthesis.
1. West Chester (3)
2. East Stroudsburg (8)
3. Slippery Rock (2)
4. Gannon (3)
5. Kutztown
6. Edinboro
7. Shippensburg
8. Bloomsburg
9. California
10. IUP
11. Seton Hill
12. Mercyhurst
13. Clarion (1)
14. Millersville
15. Mansfield
16. Lock Haven
17. Pitt-Johnstown