LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – West Chester University’s women’s soccer squad was a unanimous pick to defend its PSAC Eastern Division title in the preseason poll released Tuesday by the league.
West Chester (17-3-3, 9-1-2 PSAC East) collected all seven first-place votes in the preseason rankings, easily outdistancing East Stroudsburg atop the poll. The Warriors were second with Bloomsburg and Shippensburg each third and fourth, respectively. Kutztown, Millersville and Mansfield rounded out the field in the East.
The Golden Rams and second-year head coach Betty Ann Kempf Townsley are looking to three-peat as PSAC champion. West Chester reached the national semifinals in 2006 and fell just one game short of that goal last fall, bowing out of the NCAAs in the quarterfinal round.
Kempf Townsley has attracted another stellar class to the Delaware Valley and expects to ride the experience of her two senior goalkeepers and outstanding young forwards to another championship. West Chester was ranked No. 7 nationally in the NSCAA preseason poll released last week.
In the West, Slippery Rock received five first-place votes and was followed by league newcomer Mercyhurst, an NCAA Tournament team from last year who finished second in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, and who got the final two first-place votes. Those two nationally ranked programs were followed in order by Indiana (Pa.), Edinboro, Gannon, Lock Haven, California (Pa.) and Clarion.
Eastern Division
1. West Chester (7)
2. East Stroudsburg
3. Bloomsburg
4. Shippensburg
5. Kutztown
6. Millersville
7. Mansfield
Western Division
1. Slippery Rock (5)
2. Mercyhurst (2)
3. Indiana (Pa.)
4. Edinboro
5. Gannon
6. Lock Haven
7. California (Pa.)
