Women's Soccer | 08/14/24 | 3:19 PM
Kansas City, Mo. -- The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics has released its 2024 preseason coaches' poll ahead of the official start to the season. The Carroll College Women's Soccer team appears in the receiving votes portion of the poll.
A new season is here, and the Fighting Saints will look to build off of a successful 2023 season, aiming to make their return to the NAIA National Women's Soccer Championship for the first time since 2016.
Carroll (11-2-4, 8-1-3), returns nearly the entirety of a 2023 roster that finished second in the Cascade Collegiate Conference regular season, losing just one player to graduation.
The CCC has three teams appearing on the initial poll. Last year's CCC Champion College of Idaho appears at No. 20, while Carroll is joined by Eastern Oregon in the receiving votes category.
The Saints have a pair of scrimmages under their belt, and will begin their season with a matchup against the University of Lethbridge on Wednesday, August 21 at 5 p.m. on the newly renovated Valley Bank Field at Nelson Stadium.
The full NAIA Preseason Coaches' Poll results are as follows:
Poll Methodology:
- The poll is for publicity purposes only and has no weight or bearing in the selection process for national championship field consideration.
- A panel of head coaches representing each conference and Continental Athletic Conference (Independents) voted on the poll.
- The Top 25 is determined by a points system based on how each voter votes for the best teams. A team receives 30 points for each first-place vote, 29 for second-place, 28 points for third-place and so on through the list.
- The highest and lowest ranking for each team (a non-rating is considered a low rating) is removed.
- Teams that receive only one point in the ballot are not considered "receiving votes".
- For the first preseason poll, there is no column referencing the last time, as polls are new and different from the rating system.
|
RANK
|
INSTITUTION [FIRST-PLACE VOTES] |
RECORD |
POINTS |
| 1 |
Cumberlands (Ky.) [14] |
17-1-4 |
533 |
| 2 |
William Carey (Miss.) [4] |
24-0-1 |
526 |
| 3 |
Spring Arbor (Mich.) |
20-1-2 |
504 |
| 4 |
Tennessee Southern |
16-5-3 |
464 |
| 5 |
Central Methodist (Mo.) |
19-3-1 |
457 |
| 6 |
Aquinas (Mich.) |
17-1-4 |
451 |
| 7 |
John Brown (Ark.) |
18-3-1 |
387 |
| 8 |
Keiser (Fla.) |
13-7-2 |
359 |
| 9 |
Life (Ga.) |
15-5-2 |
358 |
| 10 |
Cumberland (Tenn.) |
16-2-3 |
356 |
| 11 |
Hope International (Calif.) |
17-4-2 |
345 |
| 12 |
Columbia (Mo.) |
17-2-1 |
320 |
| 13 |
Truett-McConnell (Ga.) |
18-3-2 |
280 |
| 14 |
SCAD Savannah (Ga.) |
17-2-2 |
271 |
| 15 |
Bethel (Tenn.) |
11-4-3 |
245 |
| 16 |
Indiana Wesleyan |
15-3-4 |
242 |
| 17 |
Hastings (Neb.) |
16-3-3 |
238 |
| 18 |
Benedictine (Kan.) |
14-4-5 |
234 |
| 19 |
Marian (Ind.) |
13-4-3 |
219 |
| 20 |
College of Idaho |
18-2-2 |
201 |
| 21 |
OUAZ (Ariz.) |
13-4-2 |
192 |
| 22 |
Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) |
13-3-3 |
188 |
| 23 |
Southeastern (Fla.) |
11-5-3 |
178 |
| 24 |
Missouri Valley |
15-4-3 |
157 |
| 25 |
Oklahoma Wesleyan |
16-3-3 |
155 |
Receiving Votes: Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 72; St. Thomas (Fla.) 71; Northwestern Ohio 51; UC Merced (Calif.) 51; Ottawa (Kan.) 40; Siena Heights (Mich.) 38; St. Ambrose (Iowa) 37; Tennessee Wesleyan 24; Campbellsville (Ky.) 19; Texas A&M Texarkana 17; Xavier (La.) 14; Taylor (Ind.) 14; Bellevue (Neb.) 12; MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) 11; Carroll (Mont.) 9; Eastern Oregon 8; Mid-America Christian (Okla.) 8; Midland (Neb.) 5; Georgia Gwinnett 5; LSU Alexandria (La.) 3
Visit www.carrollathletics.com to continue to stay up to date with everything going on in Carroll Athletics.
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