Milwaukee Tabbed as Favorite in 2014 Women's Soccer Preseason Poll

INDIANAPOLIS --Six-time defending Horizon League champion Milwaukee finds itself back in its usual position of preseason favorite as the 2014 Preseason Women’s Soccer Poll was released Tuesday.

Milwaukee has now been voted atop the preseason poll for 14 of the last 15 seasons. Last year, the Panthers were voted third in the preseason poll, but went on to win the regular season title for the 14th consecutive season. The regular season conference title streak is the longest in the nation.

The Panthers collected six of the nine available first-place votes, finishing with 62 points, while last year’s tournament runner-up Oakland received two first-place votes and Wright State garnered one.

Milwaukee returns nine starters and 18 letterwinners overall from last season’s 10-9-1 squad. Horizon League Player of the Year and Tournament MVP, Kelly Lewers, highlights the returning Panthers. The senior forward tallied nine goals and six assists last season. Also back for UWM are First-Team members Krissy Dorre (team-best 10 goals and seven assists) and Kelsey Holbert (five goals and seven assists).

Oakland is picked second in the preseason poll and returns eight starters from last year’s team, led by senior forward Kyla Kellerman. Kellerman led Oakland with eight goals and 20 points last season. Also back for the Golden Grizzlies are senior Joan Sieja (eight assists) and sophomore forward Alice Palmer (two goals and five assists).

Wright State finished one point behind Oakland to take third in the poll. The Raiders return two players that earned All-League honors last season, including the Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year, Allie Metzler. Metzler helped pace a WSU defense that posted a 0.88 goals against average for the season with nine shutouts. Junior midfielder Ashley Gogolin, a Second-Team All-League selection last season, also returns.

Detroit comes in fourth in the poll with eight starters returning from a year ago. The Titans return three of their top four points leaders from last season, including leading scorer and First-Team All-League selection Alyssa Riley (six goals and 16 points). Second-Team selection senior Alyssa Lotito (League-best 11 assists) also is back.

Valparaiso came in fifth. The Crusaders lost longtime goalkeeper, Kristen Manski, to graduation, but return their top two-scorers from last season in senior Jenny Fassbinder and junior Rita Craven. Morgan Manzke, last year’s Horizon League Freshman of the Year, also is back for the Crusaders.

Youngstown State edged out Cleveland State by one point to take sixth. The Penguins return both of their goalkeepers and 71 percent of their scoring from last season’s squad, including senior Chelsey Haney who led the Penguins in scoring last season with three goals and two assists. Cleveland State will look for rising junior Vickie Havas to lead the Vikings. Havas ranked in the top-10 in the League last season in goals (7), assists (4) and points (18) and in two years already ranks third in the CSU record books with 12 career goals.

Green Bay and UIC rounded out the poll, receiving 15 and 12 points, respectively. The Phoenix will be led by 2013 First-Team All-League member Hannah Kernen, while this season will be UIC’s inaugural season of women’s soccer.

The women’s soccer regular season begins on Friday, Aug. 22. The Horizon League Tournament will feature the top six teams in the League beginning on Monday, Nov. 3 at campus sites and continuing at the venue of the No. 1 seed Nov. 6-8.