Soccer In Arkansas
Arkansas State was picked to finish second in the Sun Belt Preseason women’s soccer coaches poll, and placed sophomore forward Loren Mitchell and junior midfielder Christina Fink on the SBC preseason all-conference team….The Arkansas Razorbacks are coming off their best SEC season in school history when they won six league games and advanced to the SEC tournament. Sophomore Ashleigh Ellenwood was named to the SEC All-Freshman team last fall after tying for the team scoring lead with 13 points as a first-year player……Central Arkansas’ Adriana Lucar (Lima, Peru) has been named to the preseason All-Southland Conference women’s soccer team. Lucar was the Southland’s Newcomer of the Year last fall when she scored 14 goals as a freshman…..Arkansas State was picked #2 in the Sun Belt preseason women’s soccer poll. Western Kentucky was the #1 pick. Junior midfielder Christina Fink (Ponchatoula, La.) and sophomore forward Loren Mitchell (Lawrenceville, Ga.) were named to the preseason all-conference team. Fink led the Red Wolves in scoring last fall with nine goals and 25 points.
Soccer In Kentucky
Lindsey Wilson received 20 of the 21 first place votes and is ranked #1 in the 2013 NAIA preseason women’s national rankings. Lindsey Wilson won the women’s NAIA national championship last fall, finishing the year with a 20-4-1 record. The Lindsey Wilson are #3 in the NAIA men’s rankings…Western Kentucky’s senior midfielder Crissy Tchjoula has been named Sun Belt conference preseason Offensive Player of the Year, and senior defender Torrie Lange was selected SBC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. Tchjoula and Lange were named to the preseason all-conference team along with sophomore forward Lauren Moats, sophomore goalkeeper Nikki Hall and senior defender Stephanie Lindsey….Western Kentucky was the unanimous #1 pick in the Sun Belt preseason coaches poll…..Lindsey Wilson was upset in the Blue Raiders’ men’s season opener 1-0 by Spring Arbor (Mich.). The loss was the first for Lindsey Wilson at home since November 2010 and ends a 20-game home winning streak….The Kentucky Wildcats return nine of 11 starters from last year’s team that captured the program’s first-ever NCAA women’s tournament win. The Wildcats open in a new stadium, in the multi-million UK Soccer Complex
Soccer In Louisiana
LSU welcomes one of the nation’s premier recruiting classes as each member of the five-player Class of 2013 have earned national team experience at either the U-17 or U-20 FIFA World Cup competitions. Those five are midfielder Natalia Gomez-Junco (Mexico), striker Summer Clarke (Canada), midfielder Emma Fletcher (Canada), left back Megan Lee (New Zealand) and center back Rebecca Pongetti (Canada)….The Nicholls State Colonels opened their 2013 season with an 8-1 romp over Southern behind hat trick from Jess Coates (Australia)…..Southeastern Louisiana was picked to finish fourth in the Southland Conference preseason women’s soccer poll. McNeese State was the #7 pick and Nicholls State was tied for tenth….Southeastern Louisiana scored a pair of goals early in the second half to pull away for a 3-1 victory over Jackson State to open the 2013 women’s soccer season. Sophomore Casey Peacock (Douglasville, GA), freshman Marisa Rodriguez (San Ramon, Calif.) and freshman Katie Noonan (Renton, Wash.) scored the Southeastern goals..
Soccer In Maryland
The Maryland Terrapins, ranked #1 in the ACC and #2 nationally, dropped a men’s soccer preseason match to St. John’s, 2-0. In a previous exhibition game, the Terps played Penn State to a 1-1 draw. The Terps goal was scored by Patrick Mullins, the 2012 Hermann Trophy winner…..UMBC wrapped up its men’s soccer preseason with a 1-0 exhibition win over American. Junior Geaton Caltabiano (Lothian, MD) scored the game’s only goal four minutes into the game. The game matched two teams predicted to capture their conference titles this year, with the UMBC Retrievers a unanimous coaches’ choice in the America East Conference, and the Eagles the selection by coaches and sports information directors in the Patriot League. Caltabiano had two goals in an earlier 3-2 preseason victory over James Madison….University of Maryland sophomore Ashley Spivey (Sparrows Point, MD) had a career-best seven points on her first collegiate career hat trick and one assist, to lead the Terps to a 9-0 victory over The Citadel…Senior Emily Banes (Bethpage, NY) scored two goals and assisted on a third to lead the Towson women to their first win of the season with a 3-0 victory over Iona. Banes was named CAA Player of the Week. Towson dropped its men’s intercollegiate soccer program after the 2012 season.
Soccer In Mississippi
Belhaven, the defending NAIA men’s national champion, is ranked #1 in the 2013 NAIA preseason men’s national soccer rankings. Belhaven won last year’s title and finished 19-4-1. William Carey is ranked #14 in the women’s preseason NAIA rankings…..Ole Miss returns 16 letter-winners, including nine starters, from the 2012 team that advanced to the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament and posted the best start in school history (8-0). Returning to the Rebels are 2012 All-SEC performers Rafaelle Souzza and Mandy McCalla, who tied for the league lead a year ago in goals (13) and points (33). Junior keeper Kelly McCormick had eight shuouts a year ago, including a stretch of four consecutive shutouts and a school record 483 shutout minutes…..Mississippi State returns six starters for Aaron Gordon’s first season as head coach of the Bulldogs, including second team All-SEC forward Elisabeth Sullivan…..Ole Miss opened the 2013 season with a 4-0 win over the Ragin Cajuns of Louisiana Lafayette. The Rebels were led by goals from Addie Forbus, Jenny Miller (2), Mindy McCalla. Forbus, a freshman, set the all-time record for career goals in Mississippi high school girls soccer with 2311 at Amory HS. She scored 52 of those goals in her junior year.
Soccer In West Virginia
Predrag “Petsa” Ivanovic, a former University of Charleston player who is a native of Serbia, has been hired as an assistant coach for the Golden Eagles men’s program. He was a two-time NSCAA All-America as a freshman and sophomore before transferring to Jacksonville University for his final two years of college soccer. This past summer he was the head coach of the USL Premier Development League’s West Virginia Chaos. Sean Teepen, another former player, has signed on as the team’s goalkeeper coach…..West Virginia Wesleyan collected six of a possible eight first-place votes to earn the favorites role to win the Mountain East Conference women’s soccer championship. Charleston, which had the other two first-place votes, was the #2 pick, followed by Concord, Shepherd, Notre Dame College, Wheeling Jesuit, Urbana and West Liberty. Charleston lost conference Player of the Year Elyse Surbaugh to graduation……Marshall soccer held the Grand Opening for the Veterans Memorial Soccer Complex on August 23 before a standing room only crowd of 1,433. The Vet, as the facility will be called, includes a 1,006-seat stadium…..The #19 ranked West Virginia women’s soccer team opened the 2013 season with a 2-2 draw at #2 Penn State in the Penn State Invitational, in front of 3,742 fans. The Mountaineers had a 2-0 lead into the 80th minute, but the Nittnay Lions, runnerups for the 2012 national championship, rallied for the draw.