Women Selected 5th in Pre-season Poll
Aug 16, 2012 | Iowa Conference
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Loras College, the 2011 Iowa Conference regular season co-champion and tournament winner, is the unanimous choice of the league’s coaches to capture the 2012 IIAC women’s soccer crown. The Duhawks, who advanced to the second round of last year’s NCAA Division III Championship, received all seven available first-place votes (coaches are not allowed to vote for their own teams) for a total of 56 points.
Wartburg College, which tied Loras for last year’s IIAC regular-season title, received the remaining first-place vote. That, coupled with five second-place votes and a third-place vote, left the Knights in second place with 49 points, while Luther College sits third with 43 points behind three second-place and three third-place votes. Simpson College edged the University of Dubuque, 36-35, for fourth place. The Storm were picked third on three ballots compared to just one for the Spartans.
The complete 2012 IIAC Women’s Soccer Coaches’ Poll follows.
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Rank
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School (1st place votes)
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Points
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2011 Record
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1
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Loras (7)
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56
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18-3-1, 7-0-1 IIAC (22 pts.)
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2
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Wartburg (1)
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49
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17-2-3, 7-0-1 IIAC (22 pts.)
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3
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Luther
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43
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10-9-1, 5-3-0 IIAC (15 pts.)
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4
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Simpson
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36
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13-6-2, 5-3-0 IIAC (15 pts.)
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5
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Dubuque
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35
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9-8-1, 4-3-1 IIAC (13 pts.)
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6
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Central
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27
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10-7-1, 3-4-1 IIAC (10 pts.)
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7
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Coe
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19
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4-11-2, 1-7-0 IIAC (3 pts.)
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8
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Buena Vista
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15
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8-10-1, 1-7-0 IIAC (3 pts.)
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Iowa Conference Schedule: The season opens Friday, August 31, with five teams in action. Buena Vista hosts MacMurray, Dubuque entertains Carroll (Wis.), Wartburg visits Wisconsin-River Falls, Central opens at Nebaska Wesleyan and Loras is at Augustana (Ill.). The Iowa Conference schedule opens Saturday, September 22 with a complete schedule of four games.
Preseason Polls: There were no Iowa Conference schools in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) National Poll. The D3soccer.com Preseason Poll will be released later this month.
Conference Tournament: The top-six teams following the regular season round-robin schedule qualify for the 2012 Iowa Conference Tournament with an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament on the line. Two first-round matches will be Saturday, October 27. The semifinals will be held Wednesday, October 31, followed by the final on Saturday, November 3. All matches will be hosted by the higher seed.
| University of Dubuque Spartans 9-8-1 overall, 4-3-1 IIAC (13 pts.; fifth) |
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| Head Coach (season): Jason Berna (12th) Record at School (yrs): 110-90-14 (11) Career Record (yrs): same IIAC Titles (last): n/a IIAC Tourney Titles (last): 1 (2009) |
Starters returning/lost – 9 / 2 Letterwinners returning/lost – 14 / 4 Returning All-IIAC/HM honorees
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| Dubuque returns nine starters from last season’s 9-8-1 team that placed fifth in the league with 13 points and a 4-3-1 record. Junior forward Alexandra Watkins, a two-time all-IIAC pick, is the top returning scorer for the Spartans. Watkins ranked second on the team in scoring with 14 points on five goals and four assists. Sophomore midfielder Elizabeth Frazier and senior forward Kayla Vaughan should help carry the load offensively. Frazier scored four goals and an assist in her rookie season to rank third on the team. Vaughan had one goal and assisted on another for a total of three points. Senior defender Ashley Barwick was a first team all-conference selection last season for a defense that held opponents to 24 goals overall and just 14 in league play. Sophomore goalkeeper Tiffany Duncan got the majority of playing time in net last season, playing in 16 games, posting an 8-7-1 record with a 1.22 goals-against average with 77 saves and five shutouts. Dubuque head coach Jason Berna says, “This season, we are looking forward to seeing the development of our underclassmen continue to improve. We are returning nine starters on our team and will look to be in the hunt for one of the top spots in the conference. This year I can see several teams compete for an IIAC conference title. This should be a very competitive conference from top to bottom!!” |
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