Wednesday,
August 9, 2006
Presbyterian
Women’s Soccer Places Three on Preseason
All-SAC Team
Team Picked to Finish Eighth in Coaches Poll
ROCK HILL, S.C. – The Presbyterian women’s soccer team placed three players on the Preseason All-South Atlantic Conference team, the league office announced Tuesday. Claire Joyce (Aiken, S.C.), Ginny Wolfe (Lexington, S.C.) and Lindsey Leffler (Rocky Mount, Va.) were all named to the conference’s second team.
All three players earned All-Conference second team honors at the end of the 2005 campaign.
With the return of Joyce and Wolfe, the Blue Hose get back the team’s two most potent offensive players from last season. Wolfe, a rising senior, finished with a team-leading nine goals and was second on the team with five assists. Her total of 23 points led the Blue Hose offense last season.
Joyce, also a rising senior, tallied seven goals and four assists, for a total of 18 points. She now ranks in the institutional top 10 for career assists with 20 and her 66 career points place her eighth all-time in Presbyterian history.
Both Joyce and Wolfe finished in the conference top 10 in goals, goals-per-game and points-per-game. Wolfe was fifth in the conference in points during her junior campaign as well as sixth in goal scoring and 10th in assists.
Leffler anchored the Blue Hose defense in 2005. A pure defender, she led a Blue Hose defense that conceded 45 fewer shots than opposing defenses. Since joining the squad in 2003, Leffler has been named to the All-Conference squad three consecutive years and has twice earned All-Region Honors.
Entering the 2006 season, Joyce and Leffler have been named team captains for the Blue Hose.
The SAC office also released the coaches poll on Tuesday. The coaches tabbed Presbyterian to finish eighth after the Blue Hose finished 2005 with a 1-5-1 conference mark. The coaches predict Carson-Newman will claim the regular season title, after advancing to the national semifinal for a second consecutive year in 2005. Last year’s regular season champion, Catawba, is picked to finish second by the pundits, while the 2005 Food Lion/SAC Tournament winner Tusculum is marked to finish the season in third place for a second consecutive season.
The Blue Hose are looking to rebound from only the third sub-.500 season in the school‘s 18-year history. Presbyterian has rebounded after both of the previous sub-.500 finishes with 10-plus win seasons and a second place finish in the SAC.
The team reports to campus on Thursday, Aug. 10. The first test comes at a preseason round robin tournament in Spartanburg, S.C. on Aug. 19 where the team faces host school USC-Upstate and Limestone beginning at 6 p.m. The regular season begins Sept. 1 in Savannah, Ga. against Armstrong Atlantic, with the home opener slated for 5 p.m. on Sept. 3 against East Stroudsburg at Martin Stadium.
2006 PRESEASON ALL-SAC
First Team
Forward - Rebecca Angus, Carson-Newmman
Forward – McKenzie Burman, Catawba
Forward – Jasmine Riley, Mars Hill
Forward – Inga Woiwode, Newberry
Midfielder – Claire Ramsdale, Carson-Newman
Midfielder – Lisa Service, Wingate
Midfielder – Erica Stegner, Carson-Newman
Midfielder – Jennifer Dold, Tusculum
Defender – Tara Learn, Lenoir-Rhyne
Defender – Ashley Moreira, Tusculum
Defender – Greta Hewett, Newberry
Defender – Sarah Barnes, Newberry
Goalkeeper – Danielle Beckerle, Newberry
Second Team
Forward – Vanessa Szewczuk, Lenoir-Rhyne
Forward – Claire Joyce, Presbyterian
Forward – Ginny Wolfe, Presbyterian
Forward – Becky Carreiro, Tusculum
Midfielder – Alicia Blaha, Mars Hill
Midfielder – Tara Carver, Mars Hill
Midfielder – Brittany Moore, Carson-Newman
Midfielder – Devon Wilt, Lenoir-Rhyne
Defender – Nicole Ferris, Tusculum
Defender – Megan Smith, Wingate
Defender – Stacey Thomas, Carson-Newman
Defender – Lindsey Leffler, Presbyterian
Goalkeeper – Whitney Waldrop, Tusculum
2006 South Atlantic Conference
Women’s Soccer Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Carson-Newman 59 (4)
2. Catawba 57 (3)
3. Tusculum 52 (1)
4. Newberry 36
5. Lenoir-Rhyne 27
6. Wingate 24
7. Mars Hill 19
8. Presbyterian 14
(First place votes in parenthesis)