Women's Soccer Picked 6th by IIAC Coaches Poll
Aug 16, 2017
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - The University of Dubuque women's soccer team was selected to finish tied for sixth in the 2017 Iowa Conference season by the coaches pre-season poll. UD finished with 29 points after finishing 6-10-1 overall last season and 2-6 in the IIAC.
The Spartans will look to underclassmen to step up and provide the experience in 2017. UD returns just one honorable mention All-Iowa Conference and will look to Lauren Cangelosi for some offense, she returns after finishing with 13 points last season. Alexa Martin started 14 games and returns as a key defender along with Megal Moll in goal who ended 2016 with 67 saves and four shutouts. Injuries left the Spartan squad sparse for back-ups last season, a great pool of newcomers should solidify the 2017 squad when they begin on Friday, Sept. 1 at home against the UW-La Crosse Eagles at 6:00 p.m.
“I expect this to be another tough year in the IIAC," said coach Jason Berna. "Several teams will have the talent to compete for a conference championship. I am excited with the girls we have coming back and the girls coming in that we will have a strong group to try and win our program’s second conference title."
The top six teams qualify for the 2017 tournament which begins on Saturday, October 28 with the 4/5 seeds and the 3/6 seeds meeting at the higher seeded home field. The winners of the opening round games will face the 1 and 2 seeds on Wednesday, November 1. The semifinal winners will face-off on Saturday, November 4 for the tournament title and the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
| 2017 IIAC Women's Soccer Preseason Coaches' Poll | |||
| Rank | School (1st place votes) | Points | 2016 Record |
| 1. | Loras (5) | 56 | 12-4-3, 6-0-2 IIAC (IIAC Regular Season Co-Champion) |
| 2. | Wartburg (1) | 55 | 10-5-4, 5-2-1 IIAC |
| 3. | Luther (2) | 48 | 13-3-3, 6-0-2 IIAC (IIAC Regular Season Co-Champion, IIAC Tournament Champion) |
| 4. | Central | 46 | 15-4-1, 6-2 IIAC |
| 5. | Coe | 36 | 11-7-2, 4-4 IIAC |
| T6. | Dubuque | 29 | 6-10-1, 2-6 IIAC |
| T6. | Nebraska Wesleyan (1) | 29 | 7-11-1, 2-5-1 IIAC |
| 8. | Simpson | 16 | 3-11-3, 2-6 IIAC |
| 9. | Buena Vista | 9 | 3-13-1, 0-8 IIAC |
