LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – In a vote by the league's head coaches, Trinity University was unanimously selected as the preseason favorite to win the 2016 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) women's soccer championship.
Trinity earned all seven first-place votes to total 49 points in the preseason polling. Last season, the Tigers finished 19-1-2 and was a perfect 12-0 in conference play - extending its current unbeaten streak in regular season conference play to 72 consecutive matches. Adding in SCAC tournament victories, Trinity has won 82 consecutive matches against conference competition - the longest current streak in NCAA Division III women's soccer.
Trinity did see one streak snapped last year as the Tigers were defeated 2-0 by Hardin-Simmons in the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament. The loss snapped a streak of 90 consecutive home matches without a loss for the Tigers.
The most obvious change in San Antonio will be on the sidelines as former Trinity men's standout Dylan Harrison takes over the reigns of the program. The Tigers return 10 starters from the 2015 season and are ranked seventh by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Division III Preseason Poll.
Schreiner University was the coaches' second selection, garnering 37 points in the preseason polling. The Mountaineers are coming off a record-breaking season - setting program records for both overall (11) and conference wins (8) which included a second-place regular season finish. In addition, head coach Nick Morrison returns all seven of his players who were selected to the 2015 All-SCAC team a year ago. Of note, all seven were either rising sophomores or juniors.
Southwestern University, with 33 points, was selected to finish third by the league's head cocaches. The Pirates finished the 2015 season with an overall mark of 7-11-2; 6-5-1 in the SCAC and was the fourth seed in the conference tournament. Second-year head coach Linda Hamilton returns eight starters, including every goal scorer from last season.
Coming in fourth in the preseason rankings with 32 points was Texas Lutheran University. After a third-place finish during the 2015 regular season, the Bulldogs (13-5-2 overall; 6-4-2 SCAC) advanced to the SCAC title game for a second consecutive year. The 2016 campaign will be head coach Larry Schaffer's fifth season at the helm of the Bulldogs' program, and he is just nine wins from tying the TLU women's soccer career wins record.
University of Dallas was tabbed to finish fifth in the preseason balloting. Head Coach Angelina Pane, entering her fourth season at the helm of the Crusaders, guided the 2015 squad to a 6-13-2 overall record; 4-7-1 during SCAC play, and hosted the league tournament. Dallas would earn the fifth seed and battled Southwestern to a 0-0 tie in the SCAC quarterfinals but fell 5-3 in the shootout.
Finishing sixth in the preseason coaches' rankings was Austin College. The 'Roos (3-14-2 overall; 2-9-1 SCAC) will be led by first-year head coach David Sheridan, who comes to Sherman after one season as the head coach at Notre Dame of Maryland University. Austin College returns the bulk of last season's starting lineup, as well as 79 percent of the team's goal scoring from a year ago.
Centenary College is slated to finish seventh after posting a 2-15 overall mark (1-11-0 in the SCAC) a season ago. Head coach David Orr is preparing for this third season leading the Ladies after spending the previous six seasons as the head coach of the Gents men's soccer program. The 2016 recruiting brought eight new players into the program - the largest incoming class at Centenary since 2012.
2016 SCAC Predicted Order of Finish
1. Trinity University - 49 points (7)
2. Schreiner University - 37 points
3. Southwestern University - 33 points
4. Texas Lutheran University - 32 points
5. University of Dallas - 23 points
6. Austin College - 12 points
7. Centenary College - 10 points
(Seven points were awarded for a first-place vote, six points for a second-place, down to one point for an seventh-place vote. First-place votes in parenthesis.)
