Eagles tabbed ninth in SAC preseason poll
ROCK HILL, S.C. – The Carson-Newman women’s soccer team was selected to finish ninth in the 2015 South Atlantic Conference poll selected by the league’s coaches, the league announced Monday morning.
Richard Moodie Interview
ROCK HILL, S.C. – The Carson-Newman women's soccer team was selected to finish ninth in the 2015 South Atlantic Conference poll selected by the league's coaches, the league announced Monday morning.
The Eagles are coming off a 3-14 campaign in 2014 with a 1-10 record in the SAC. The program's lone conference win was a 4-1 victory over the Mars Hill Lions on October 22nd at McCown Field. Carson-Newman missed the SAC Tournament for the second time in three years and finished 11th in the standings.
"It's a fair analyze, I think, based on what we have been in previous years. Last year, I don't think we are a team that won three games; the record obviously states that, but we outshot our opponents collectively over every game," Moodie said.
Carson-Newman returns six starters from last season and lost five starters. The program welcomed 12 new players during fall camp.
Four of the program's top scorers from 2014 return to the friendly confines of McCown Field. Preseason first-team All-SAC midfielder Mikayla Gregg (Newport, Tenn.) scored five goals for the Lady Eagles that led the team by two goals. Sophomores Helen Seed (Preston, England), Camilla Olsson (Trondheim, Norway) and junior Nora Logan (Charlotte, N.C.) all tallied two goals last year. Seed was also named preseason first-team all-conference.
In the defense, three starters from 2014 return as Seed is joined by juniors Megan Peterson (Parrish, Fla.) and Elissa Lane (Knoxville, Tenn.), but competition from newcomers and position changes have created a competitive fall camp and has not allowed anyone to solidify starting roles this year.
The midfield welcomes Gregg, junior Chelsea Jordan (Knoxville, Tenn.) and junior Gabrielle Gianeselli (Knoxville, Tenn.) back but plenty of roles and playing tine will be up for grabs. The forwards will see the return of Logan and Olsso, while senior Nikki McWilliams (Saintfield, Northern Ireland) returns from an injury that cut her 2014 campaign short.
The 13 new Eagles hail from across the globe as three states and six countries are represented on the roster. Junior transfer Julianne Herrity (Donegal, Ireland) is the only newcomer with college experience. She led the University of Ulster to the Women's Soccer Colleges Association of Ireland All-Ireland Championship and played for the Irish Combined College's team at the Keele Cup in Manchester, England where her team finished second. Freshman Heida Ragney (Akureyri, Iceland) played in five games for the U-17 Icelandic National Team.
"For us this season, we have new faces in, the returners that have returned have made a massive impact already on the squad. It's up to us to prove people wrong now, so we are just going to work hard. We have looked good so far in training camp, we have looked good in intra-squad scrimmages," Moodie said.
This is tied for the lowest ranking for the program in the past seven seasons in preseason polls; the Eagles were also picked ninth in 2012 and 2013.
Lenior-Rhyne was picked to repeat as conference champions in 2015 after securing the conference's regular season title in 2014. The Bears secured seven first-place votes and tallied 127 points. The Wingate Bulldogs recorded the five other first-place votes and finished second in the voting with 126 points. Wingate claimed the 2014 SAC Women's Soccer Championship. Both teams made NCAA Tournament appearances in 2014 with L-R making it all the way to the regional championship game.
Lincoln Memorial was the other team to record over 100 points in the preseason poll as the Railsplitters were picked third with 103 points; the 'Splitters finished in third last year. The Newberry Wolves and Catawba Indians were picked fourth and fifth, respectively.
The Tusculum Pioneers were penciled into the sixth spot, while the Queens (N.C.) Royals were slotted seventh. Anderson finished just ahead of Carson-Newman in eighth.
2015 SAC Women's Soccer Preseason Poll
School (first-place votes) Total
1. Lenoir-Rhyne (7) 127
2. Wingate (5) 126
3. Lincoln Memorial 103
4. Newberry 95
5. Catawba 90
6. Tusculum 89
7. Queens 77
8. Anderson 62
9. Carson-Newman 56
10. Coker 35
11. Mars Hill 33
12. Brevard 31
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