GANSEVOORT, N.Y. – The two-time defending North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) women’s soccer champion Penn State Berks will once again be the team to beat, according to the coaches’ preseason poll rankings. 

Penn State Berks totaled 142 points to top the poll, as the Nittany Lions received 10 of the 12 allowable first-place votes while grabbing second place with the other two rankings.  Berks will return eight players and six starters from last year’s 18-3 squad, including NEAC Player of the Year Dana Sarcinello (Downingtown, Pa.), NEAC Rookie of the Year Chrissy Smith (Honeybrook, Pa.) and NEAC Tournament MVP Lizzie Mummau (Mount Joy, Pa.).  

Fellow 2014 NEAC All-Conference First Team selections Ellie McKinstry (New City, N.Y.) and Brennan Moyer (Wyomissing, Pa.) will also return for head coach Adrian Munteanu, who was dubbed the NEAC Coach of the Year for the third straight season in 2014 after guiding the Nittany Lions to their third consecutive NEAC regular season title behind a perfect 12-0 conference record last season. 

Penn State Abington placed second in the rankings after receiving all of its votes within the top three, including a pair of first-place votes, for 131 total points.  Abington, last season’s NEAC Tournament runner-up, returns four All-Conference selections in Kayla Nolan (Abington, Pa.), Elizabeth Jones (Philadelphia, Pa.), Victoria Parker (Philadelphia, Pa.) and Margaret Sheridan (Horsham, Pa.) from last year’s squad, which finished 11-1 in NEAC play and 13-6 overall. 

Rankings three through six matched the remaining four teams from last season’s six-team NEAC Tournament, as Lancaster Bible College tallied a first-place vote and came in third place with 120 points, followed by Keuka College (107 points) in fourth, SUNY Polytechnic Institute (89 points) in fifth and Cazenovia College (85 points) in sixth. 

The full women’s soccer preseason rankings can be found below:

Rank	Institution (First-Place Votes)	Total Points
1	Penn State Berks (10)	142
2	Penn State Abington (2)	131
3	Lancaster Bible College (1)	120
4	Keuka College	107
5	SUNY Polytechnic Institute	89
6	Cazenovia College	85
7	Wells College	75
8	Morrisville State College	71
9	Penn College	66
10	SUNY Cobleskill	47
11	Gallaudet University	35
12	Wilson College	26
13	College of Saint Elizabeth	20

 

The 2015-16 NEAC women’s soccer season will begin on Tuesday, September 1.  A full season schedule can be found on the NEAC website here.  Be sure to follow all the action throughout the season using the free NEAC mobile app, Front Row, which can be downloaded here. 

The preseason poll rankings were conducted by the NEAC women’s soccer coaches, with each coach ranking out all teams but their own using a staggered points system (12 points for a first-place vote, 11 points for second, etc.).  No self-voting was allowed.  This is the first year the NEAC has held preseason polls and they will now become a staple of all 18 conference-sponsored sports moving forward.

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The North Eastern Athletic Conference has fourteen NCAA Division III member institutions which include: Bryn Athyn College, Cazenovia College, College of St. Elizabeth, Gallaudet University, Keuka College, Lancaster Bible College, Pennsylvania College of Technology, Pennsylvania State University - Abington, Pennsylvania State University - Berks, SUNY Cobleskill, SUNY Morrisville State College, SUNY Polytechnic Institute, Wells College, and Wilson College.  Associate members are: Cedar Crest College (W Swimming), D’Youville College (M Volleyball), Hilbert College (M Lacrosse & M Volleyball), Medaille College (M&W Lacrosse & M Volleyball), Penn State Altoona (M Volleyball) and Rutgers University - Camden (M Golf).  The North Eastern Athletic Conference has partnered with the North Atlantic Conference in the sports of men’s and women’s tennis.