Bowling Green State University Athletics
MAC Releases Women's Soccer Preseason Poll
August 16, 2002 | Women's Soccer
Aug. 16, 2002
CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Mid-American Conference women's soccer coaches have made their predictions for the 2002 season, and the Bowling Green State University Falcons have been picked to finish ninth. The poll, released Friday morning (Aug. 16), is a result of the voting by the league's 13 head coaches.
The Falcons of head coach Andy Richards, after finishing 7-10-2 overall last fall, open the 2002 season with a home contest vs. Michigan State on Sept. 1. The MAC opener is set for Sept. 6 at Toledo.
Last year, the Falcons finished 12th in MAC action with a league slate of 2-9-1. BGSU has 12 returning letterwinners, including eight starters, from a year ago.
The complete poll is as follows...
MAC Women's Soccer
2002 Preseason Poll
1. Miami (11)..........166 2. Ohio (1)............145 3. Eastern Michigan....139 4. Marshall (1)........117 5. Buffalo.............107 6. Central Michigan....104 7. Western Michigan.....87 8. Ball State...........83 9. Bowling Green........68 10. Kent State...........60 11. Toledo...............49 12. Northern Illinois....37 13. Akron................22MAC Tournament Winner: Miami 10; Ohio, Marshall, Eastern Michigan 1.
first-place votes in parentheses
The following is the release issued by the Mid-American Conference office...
Finishing with 166 of 169 possible points, Miami University was picked to win its first regular season Mid-American Conference title by the league coaches in the 2002 preseason poll, receiving eleven first-place votes.
The RedHawks finished third in the 2001 regular season with a mark of 8-3-1 before winning its second tournament championship. Miami returns all three of its All-MAC first-team members: Danielle Altiero, Danielle Berkemeier, the league-scoring leader for 2001 and Andrea Cunningham, 2001 MAC Player of the Year.
Ohio, the defending regular season champion, finished second in the balloting with 145 points and one first-place vote. The Bobcats concluded the 2001 season with an impressive league mark of 10-2. Rachael Najjar, the Bobcats record holder for most points in a game returns this season.
Eastern Michigan earned the third spot, garnering 139 points. Jessica Hupe, named to the second team All-MAC returns to the field for the Eagles -- a team that went 9-3 in the MAC and concluded the 2001 season in second place.
Marshall received one first place vote and 117 points -- good enough for the fourth spot. The Herd's returnees are Amanda McMahon, the league leader in assists last season with 12, and All-MAC first team member Lauren Scott.
Buffalo finished fifth with 107 points. With a 2001 record of 7-5, the Bulls returns one of the top goaltenders in the league in Emily Cox, who had a goals against average of 0.97.
Finishing sixth in the poll was Central Michigan, who earned 104 points. Concluding with a MAC mark of 8-4, the Chippewas advanced in the post-season to the championship game of the MAC Tournament, before falling to Miami 3-1. Western Michigan garnered 87 points to claim seventh in the poll. The Broncos finished 2001 with a 6-6 league mark.
Ball State finished four points behind the Broncos with 83 points. Behind Ball State in ninth-place is Bowling Green, who tallied 68 points, and Kent State in tenth, with 60 points.
Rounding out the 2001 coaches' poll are Toledo, Northern Illinois and Akron. Toledo tallied 49 points, and returns Elise Donovan, a first team All-MAC goalie. Northern Illinois received 37 points and twelfth place. Akron, a second-year program, closes out the poll with 22 points.
Miami was also picked as the favorite to repeat as the MAC tournament champion, receiving ten votes to win the title game. Ohio, Marshall and Eastern Michigan each received one of the remaining votes.
