Women's Soccer Season Preview
The women's soccer team was picked first in the GNAC preseason coaches poll.
NEWTON, Mass. (8/28/14) – The Lasell College women's soccer team was picked as the preseason favorite in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference by the coaches in the league. The Lasers have captured the last four conference championships, advancing to the NCAA tournament four consecutive years.
Lasell received eight first-place votes and 138 points, to take the top spot in the preseason coaches poll, followed by Albertus Magnus (14-5-3, 9-2-0 GNAC) finishing second in the poll with two first-place votes and 121 points overall, while Saint Joseph's College of Maine (15-3-1, 9-2-0 GNAC) came in third with 114 points and one first-place tally. Emmanuel College (10-8-3, 7-2-2 GNAC) took the fourth position with 99 points and Simmons College (8-11-1, 5-6-0 GNAC) rounded out the top-five with 97 points.
The 2013 squad finished with a 17-4-1 record and a 10-0-1 mark in GNAC play, knocking off Suffolk in the conference championship game before seeing their season end at the hands of two-time defending national champion Messiah College in the NCAA tournament. Lasell said goodbye to five key seniors from the 2013 team including a pair of All-GNAC selections, defenders Jill Greaney and Jamie Osterberg. The duo along with midfielders Arianna DiOrio, Melissa Leonard and forward Sam Peck accounted for 84 appearances and 60 starts during the campaign, as well as seven goals and 12 assists. The group graduated as the winningest collection of classmates in the program's history with an overall record of 62-18-6 including a 38-6-4 record in conference play.
The 2014 squad features 20 returning players and adds nine newcomers to the program. The Lasers open their season on August 30th in their Kick-Off tournament with a 12:00 p.m. match-up against Bay Path College in a field that also includes Salve Regina and Keene State. Their challenging non-conference slate also includes road games against Roger Williams, Brandeis and Amherst and home fixtures against UMass-Dartmouth and Rhode Island College.
2014 GNAC Women's Soccer Preseason Coaches' Poll
1. Lasell (8) - 138
2. Albertus Magnus (2) - 121
3. Saint Joseph's (ME) (1) - 114
4. Emmanuel - 99
5. Simmons - 97
6. Saint Joseph (CT) - 85
7. Johnson & Wales - 80
8. Suffolk (1) - 76
9. Mount Ida - 42
10. Rivier - 38
11. Norwich - 25
12. Anna Maria - 21