LOCK HAVEN, Pa.- The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) released its women's soccer preseason poll on Tuesday afternoon and West Chester was ranked in a tie for first atop the PSAC East Preseason poll with Kutztown.
Kutztown claimed five of the nine available first-place votes while West Chester secured the remaining four followed by Bloomsburg in third. Millersville secured the fourth spot in the poll followed by East Stroudsburg in fifth with Shippensburg in sixth. Shepherd claimed the seventh spot in the rankings followed by Lock Haven in eighth and Mansfield in ninth to round out the PSAC East Preseason poll field.
In the PSAC West, Mercyhurst took the top spot with four first-place votes followed by crosstown rival Gannon in second with three first-place votes and Slippery Rock in third with the remaining two first-place votes.
West Chester finished the 2021 season with a mark of 12-5-3 after defeating Charleston (W.V.) and Kutztown in the NCAA Tournament, which allowed the Golden Rams to make the trek to Athens, West Virginia, to face top-seed Concord in the NCAA Atlantic Region Tournament final in early December. This NCAA Tournament appearance marked the 18th year in a row in which West Chester has qualified for the NCAA Tournament, which is tied for the second longest active streak in Division II women's soccer, trailing only Franklin Pierce who qualified 19 years in a row from 1992-2010. The 2021 season also marked the third time in the last four appearances that West Chester has advanced to at least the Atlantic Region Tournament final. West Chester returns a number of key members of that 2021 Regional Final team, including its three leading goal scorers from a year ago in reigning PSAC East Rookie of the Year,
Kaitlynn Haughey (Philadelphia, Pa./Penn Charter), Julia Raybold (Elizabethtown, Pa./Elizabethtown), and Maggie Lena (Santa Monica, Cal./Santa Monica).
West Chester and Kutztown were also the only two PSAC programs ranked in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Top-25 released earlier this month as the Golden Bears were ranked 12
th with the Golden Rams close behind in 16
th.
West Chester will open its 2022 season on Thursday, August 25th vs Jefferson beginning at 1 p.m. on Rockwell Field.
