California's Sam Regney (left) and West Chester's Cindi Nickels (right).
West Chester Edges Out California as 2010 PSAC Women’s Soccer Favorites
IUP, Kutztown are third and fourth, respectively as PSAC returns to single division for women’s soccer
Lock Haven, Pa. - For the sixth straight year, West Chester has been picked as the preseason favorite in the PSAC women’s soccer preseason poll as nine out of 15 coaches predicted the Golden Rams will win the PSAC this year. The Golden Rams edged out California, last year’s PSAC West and NCAA regional champion, for first place as the PSAC returns to a single division format this year in women’s soccer.
West Chester, which captured its third PSAC tournament championship in the last four seasons last year, was tabbed as the PSAC East favorite each year since the PSAC instituted a preseason poll for women’s soccer prior to the 2005 season, tying for first in the East in last year’s poll with Bloomsburg. This year, the PSAC will return to a single division format in women’s soccer for the first time since the 2003 season.
The Golden Rams were followed in second place by California, which had its best season in school history last year en route to advancing all the way to the NCAA Elite Eight. The Vulcans received five first place votes and trailed the Golden Rams by just eight points in the voting. IUP, which made the PSAC Tournament semifinals after finishing tied for second in the PSAC West last year and also advanced to the NCAA regional final before losing to Cal, came in third while Kutztown, last year’s PSAC East and PSAC Tournament runner-up, was fourth and received the final first place vote. Gannon, which along with the first four teams in this year’s poll also made last year’s NCAA Tournament, came in fifth. The middle of the poll was very tight as former PSAC West rivals Mercyhurst and Slippery Rock tied for sixth and former PSAC East rivals Bloomsburg and East Stroudsburg tied for eighth. Edinboro, Shippensburg, Millersville, Lock Haven, Mansfield and Clarion rounded out the poll.
West Chester, in addition to having been picked first in all six of the PSAC’s preseason polls and winning three of the last four PSAC Tournaments, also claimed PSAC East titles in each of the last five years, dropping just two and tying just seven out of 60 total PSAC East games over those last five seasons. Last year, the Golden Rams set a new PSAC record by allowing just five goals in the entire season and winning 19 games, tied for second in PSAC history. This year, the Rams return several of their key players from last year’s record-setting team, including goalkeeper Lyndsie Bernardini, who saw the majority of time in the net last year as a freshman and compiled a microscopic 0.23 goals against average and an impressive .923 save percentage while recording 15 shutouts. They also return all three starting defenders in Tara Malkiewicz, Brittany Couper, and Cindi Nickels. Offensively, they also have a strong returning core as their top seven scorers from last year return, led by last year’s PSAC leader in assists in Sarah Oswald (10g, 16a), as well as Jen Hutchinson (8g) and Jessica Bennett (5g, 2a). In total, the Golden Rams only lost two seniors from last year’s 19-2-1 squad.
California will be without the services of last year’s PSAC West Player of the Year, Amanda Heister, who led the PSAC in goals and points last year. While the Vulcans will need to find a player or combination of player to replace her offensive production, they still return their next three top scorers in Sam Regney (9g, 8a), Carley Work (6g, 5a) and Kayla Fransko (2g, 9a). Additionally, Cal also has all four starting backs returning from a defense that compiled a 0.68 goals against average last year, which was second in the conference behind only West Chester. Kelsey Fisher, Elizabeth Johnston, Kayla Klimasko and Kristen Orrett headline the strong back line for the Vulcans, who also return starting goalkeeper Paula Jackson, who enters her second year as a starter.
Listed below is the PSAC women’s soccer preseason coaches’ poll. First place votes are in parenthesis.
1. West Chester (9)
2. California (5)
3. IUP
4. Kutztown (1)
5. Gannon
T6. Mercyhurst
T6. Slippery Rock
T8. Bloomsburg
T8. East Stroudsburg
10. Edinboro
11. Shippensburg
12. Millersville
13. Lock Haven
14. Mansfield
15. Clarion