Posted by Michael Ann Riley - Tue, Aug 19, 2008 - [Women's Soccer] - Viewed 805 times
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (8/19) - After securing its second national championship in the last three years, Martin Methodist (Tenn.) is ranked No. 1 in the 2008 NAIA Women's Soccer Coaches' Preseason Top 25 Poll, announced today. With 639 total points and 15 of a possible 23 first-place votes, the RedHawks start 2008 in defense of their 2007 national title. Senior defender Marcia Silva is slated to return for the RedHawks after she was named the 2007 Brine-NAIA Player of the Year.
Martin Methodist has won the last four TranSouth Conference Regular Season and Tournament Titles. They have also won the NAIA Region XI Tournament two out of the last three years.
"It's an honor to be ranked number one, but this based on winning the 2007 National Championship." Coach Gerry Cleary commented. "I like the fact that we didn't receive all the top votes. From the rankings you can see there are three other teams that received number one votes, so that means we are considered to be one of the top five teams in the nation. If you look at past ratings we were ranked preseason number eight in 2005 and preseason number five in 2007." Cleary added "This is 2008 and we have five returning seniors that have won two national championships and lost in the final four combined with six new players that will have an immediate impact. We have experience, we have youth and we are looking forward to a good year."
Azusa Pacific (Calif.), a club who lost to Martin Methodist in the championship bout last year by a 2-1 score, is right behind at No. 2 with 632 total points. At No. 3 is Lee (Tenn.), who held the No. 1 slot last year for six straight weeks including the final poll. The 2007 Preseason No. 1 team, Lindsey Wilson (Ky.), begins this campaign at No. 4 after going 17-3-3 last year. Concordia (Ore.) rounds out the Top 5 after finishing 18-2-2 last season. The Cavaliers finished the 2007 season strong being rated at No. 4 the final four weeks.
Three programs not being rated in the final 2007 regular season Top 25 Poll enter the ratings this time. Houghton (N.Y.) is at No. 17, Kansas Wesleyan sits at No. 24 while Spring Arbor (Mich.) wraps it up at No. 25.
The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences, independents and unaffiliated groups. The first regular season Top 25 poll will be announced on Sept. 9.
For complete list of the top 25 teams please click here.
