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Women's Soccer Ranked 9th in NWC Pre-season Poll
PORTLAND, Ore. - The Lewis & Clark women's
soccer team was picked to finish the 2009 season in ninth place in
the Northwest Conference, as voted on by the leagues coaches. Puget
Sound was voted the unanimous favorite to win the 2009 women's
soccer championship. The Loggers are aiming for an NWC-record
eighth straight title.
Puget Sound picked up all nine first place votes for a maximum of
90 points in the poll. The Loggers can break a tie with Willamette
for most consecutive NWC titles in women's soccer. Willamette won
or shared seven straight between 1993 and 1999, while Puget Sound
has won or shared the last seven in a row.
The Loggers, who finished 18-2 overall and ran through the NWC at
16-0 last season, return three-time NWC Offensive Player of the
Year Janece Levien, but graduated 2008 NWC Defensive MVP Nikki
Graff.
Whitworth is second in the poll with 69 points. First Team All-NWC
midfielder Lindsey Oakes will lead the Pirates, who have finished
as conference runners-up the last two seasons. Daman Hagerott, who
coached the Pirates to their last NWC championship in 1995, returns
as head coach of the Bucs this fall.
Whitman (60 points) finished just ahead of Willamette (58) for
third place in the poll, reversing the teams' finish in last
season's standings. First Team All-NWC keeper Courtney Porter and
forward Corina Gabbert will lead Whitman. Junior midfielder Alex
Baxter was an honorable mention All-NWC midfielder last year at
Willamette.
George Fox is fifth in the poll with 42 points. The Bruins welcome
back First Team All-NWC midfielder Kirsten Cardwell.
Pacific (Ore.) totaled 35 points while Pacific Lutheran had 29
points for sixth and seventh in the poll, respectively. Junior
midfielder Jenny Novak was a Second Team All-NWC choice for Pacific
last year. Sophomore defender Jordan Daniels will lead the PLU back
line this fall.
Linfield is eighth (19 points), while Lewis & Clark (12) is
ninth in the poll. New head coach Dominic Doty will aim to turn the
fortunes of Linfield, while senior defender Liska Havel leads
L&C after earning Second Team All-NWC honors last year.
The 2009 NWC season gets underway on August 29th.
2009 NWC Women's Soccer Coaches' Preseason
Poll:
School
(1st)
Pts.
All
NWC
1. Puget Sound (Wash.)
(9)
90
18-2 16-0
2. Whitworth
(Wash.)
69
15-4-1 11-4-1
3. Whitman (Wash.)
60
11-7-1 9-6-1
4.
Willamette(Ore.)
58
12-8 10-6
5. George Fox
(Ore.)
42
12-8 8-8
6. Pacific
(Ore.)
35
5-14-1 4-11-1
6. Pacific Lutheran
(Wash.)
29
5-11-3 4-10-2
8. Linfield
(Ore.)
19
6-14 4-12
9. Lewis & Clark
(Ore.)
12
4-12-4 3-12-1
(First-place votes in parenthesis. Points awarded on
10-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis)
