Milwaukee favored again in women's soccer poll
Aug. 24, 2007
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INDIANAPOLIS -- Sometimes, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Once again, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's soccer team opens the season as the favorite to win the Horizon League championship, according to the results of the League's preseason poll released Friday (Aug. 24).
Milwaukee, which has won the last seven regular-season League titles, received seven first-place votes from the League's head coaches for a total of 56 points. Defending League titlist Loyola University Chicago placed second with 49 points including the final first-place nod, with Wright State University third at 42 points. One League head coach abstained from the voting.
Butler University (34 points) edged the University of Detroit Mercy (32) and Valparaiso University (30) for fourth place in the voting, while the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay finished seventh with 23 points. Youngstown State University (14) and Cleveland State University (eight) rounded out the field.
Only Penn State University (nine consecutive years atop the Big Ten Conference standings) boasts a longer run atop its circuit's leader board than UWM, which owns a 41-1-2 loop ledger while winning the regular-season crown in each of the last seven years. The Panthers ran through the League schedule undefeated (7-0-0) last season before falling 1-0 to Detroit in the semifinals of the League Championship. Milwaukee received an at-large berth to the NCAA Championship and ousted the University of Michigan in penalty kicks before losing 1-0 to top-seeded University of Notre Dame to cap a 16-4-2 campaign.
UWM ranked fourth in the nation with a 0.44 goals-against average, wtih junior goalkeeper Erin Kane matching her own League record with 13 shutouts. Kane's 26 career clean sheets are also the most in League history. Up front, current sophomore Louise Vraney hit the net six times with junior midfielder Sarah Teegarden adding five goals to gain First-Team All-League honors for the second year in a row.
Loyola finished second in the regular-season standings with a 5-1-1 League mark last fall and captured the League Championship and an automatic NCAA Championship berth with a 2-1 victory over Detroit in the title showdown. The Ramblers bring back nine starters from last year's 14-7-3 group, including the circuit's top returning scorer in Cynthia Morote-Ariza. The sophomore forward earned the League's Newcomer of the Year award and First-Team All-League status in 2006, collecting a school-record 27 points with nine goals and a League-high nine assists for the loop's highest-scoring offense. Fellow sophomore Jackie Vera posted six goals and five assists to join Morote-Ariza as a First-Team honoree.
Wright State tied a school single-season record with 12 victories (12-3-4 overall), finishing 4-1-2 in League play before being eliminated in a penalty-kick shootout in the quarterfinals of the League Championship. Junior midfielder Jess Rooma was a First-Team All-League pick for her defensive efforts plus three goals and four assists in 2006, while junior forward Amy Miller drew Second-Team recognition after hitting the net nine times and setting up five other markers.
Butler's 5-11-3 overall mark included a 2-4-1 League standard in 2006. Junior midfielder Angie Muir has scored six goals and set up five others in each of her first two seasons, while senior midfielder Ashley Twehues was a Second-Team All-League selection last fall after logging a goal and two assists and helping solidify the Bulldog defense. Junior forward Jenny Southard added four goals and three assists for 11 points a year ago.
Detroit overcame a slow start to win eight of its final 11 contests, finishing at 10-11-0 overall. The Titans advanced to the League championship match for the fourth consecutive year, despite a modest 4-3-0 League record. Two-time League Player of the Year Mary Parker led the circuit with 17 goals and 40 points last fall, but her graduation leaves the Titans searching for offense in 2007. Sophomore midfielder Lauren Moss returns to the field after missing all of last season with an injury. She tallied four goals and four assists as a Second-Team All-League pick in 2005.
Valparaiso joins the Horizon League after winning the Mid-Continent Conference regular-season title a year ago. The Crusaders, who captured that circuit's tournament crown and an NCAA Championship berth in 2005, bring back ten starters from the 2006 unit that posted a 12-4-3 overall mark and outscored its opponents, 40-17. Senior goalkeeper Erin Murray compiled a 0.88 goals-against average last fall, while sophomore forward Sararh Jewell hit the net ten times and led the Crusaders with 22 points.
Green Bay posted an 8-7-1 overall record (3-3-1 in League play) last year, but must replace the 13-goal, 32-point production of the graduated Stephanie Gross. Senior forward Jennie Gorwitz steps into the leadership role of the attack after collecting eight goals and two assists last fall. Senior Lotte Rasmussen bolsters the midfield for the Phoenix, while senior Brooke Wikgren and junior Charla Buxbaum share time in goal.
Youngstown State brings back ten starters from the team that finished 3-14-0 overall (1-6-0 in the League) in 2006. Sophomore forward Jordan Gapczynski paces the Penguin attack, earning a spot on the League's All-Newcomer team with her five goals---half of the team's total and the most by a YSU player in four seasons. Sophomore goalkeeper Caitlin Bodzioney had an equally-notable debut campaign, finishing 14th in the nation with an average of 7.82 saves per game. She compiled a 1.88 goals-against mark as a freshman.
Cleveland State notched the first three victories in the program's three-year history last fall, ending the season at 3-17-0 overall. The Vikings attempt to build on that momentum, with senior forward Shayna Back leading a group of 15 returning letterwinners in 2007. Back set Viking single-season records wih six goals and 14 points last fall, while senior midfielder Heather Clapacs set up three markers. CSU also welcomes back junior foward Jennifer Wieand, who missed all of last season with a knee injury.
The Horizon League season opens Friday, Aug. 31, with eight of the nine teams in action, while Detroit is idle until its season debut on Tuesday, Sept. 4. Loyola and Green Bay kick off League play on Friday, Sept. 16, at UWGB's Aldo Santaga Stadium.
An automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament is on the line in the League Championship, which begins Tuesday, Oct. 30, when the ninth-place team travels to the home of the No. 8 seed. The top four seeds host quarterfinal-round action on Saturday, Nov. 3, before the highest-remaining seed hosts the final weekend of the summit. Semifinals are set for Friday, Nov. 9, with the League champion crowned on Sunday, Nov. 11.
The winner of the Horizon League Championship will attempt to continue the circuit's string of success in recent years. A League entry has reached the second round of the national summit in each of the last three years, while Milwaukee and Loyola combined to make loop history last fall, giving the League a pair of NCAA qualifiers for the first time ever.
2007 Horizon League Preseason Women's Soccer Poll
1. Milwaukee (7 first-place votes), 56 points
2. Loyola (1), 49 points
3. Wright State, 42 points
4. Butler, 34 points
5. Detroit, 32 points
6. Valparaiso, 30 points
7. Green Bay, 23 points
8. Youngstown State, 14 points
9. Cleveland State, 8 points
NOTE: The League's head coaches vote in this poll. Teams received eight points for a first-place vote, seven points for a second-place vote, etc. The head coaches were not allowed to vote for their own squads. One head coach abstained from the voting.
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