LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – Following its 11th-straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 2019, the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference women’s soccer coaches have once again selected the Trinity University Tigers as the preseason favorites for the 2020-21 SCAC women’s soccer season.
The TU Tigers, who lead the SCAC with 23 women’s titles, received seven of the eight first-place votes cast by the league coaches to finish atop the poll with 63 points. Southwestern, coming off its first-ever SCAC Tournament Championship and trip to the NCAA Tournament a season ago, received the final first-place vote to finish just six points behind Trinity with 57 points. The University of Dallas, after posting its first 10-win season since 2014, checks in at third with 40 points. The University of St. Thomas and Texas Lutheran University tied for fourth with 30 points. Centenary College is slotted sixth with 29 points following a 16-win campaign in 2019 – the most wins since the Ladies joined the league back in 2012. Rounding out the coaches' selections was Austin College (19) in seventh and Schreiner University (17) in eighth.
Trinity will enter competition this spring under the guidance of head coach, Dylan Harrison. In four seasons at the helm of the Tigers’ program, Harrison has posted a record of 76-9-2 (.885), including a perfect 45-0-0 in league play and four appearances in the NCAA Tournament. The TU Tigers return five all-conference performers from the 2019 team that posted a 17-4-1 overall record and advanced to the NCAA Round of 16 for the first time since 2016. Offensively, Trinity returns its top three goal scorers from a season ago from a squad that led the SCAC in goals (63), assists (51) and points (177). Leading the way are juniors Camryn Beall and Kaity Ward, who were both named First Team All-SCAC and First Team All-West Region. Beall and Ward, along with sophomore forward Molly Sheridan who was named Honorable Mention All-SCAC as a rookie, combined for 22 goals and 13 assists for a total of 57 points. First Team All-SCAC honoree Nyah Shepherd and Second Team All-SCAC performer Bailey Meyer return to anchor a defense that allowed just 11 goals, boasted a 0.49 goals against average and produced 15 shutouts – all top marks in the SCAC last season. Shepherd also contributed on the offensive end of the field, posting 17 points on two goals with a team-high 13 assists in her freshman campaign.
The SCAC women’s soccer season begins on February 25th with a scheduled single round robin regular season format. The 2020-21 SCAC Women’s Soccer Tournament is currently scheduled to be held in late April with quarterfinal matchups set to be hosted by the high-seeds and the following weekend’s semifinals and finals hosted by Texas Lutheran University at the completion of the regular season.
| 2020-21 SCAC Women's Soccer Preseason Coaches' Poll (first-place votes in parentheses, followed by total points) |
||
| 1. | Trinity University (7) | 63 |
| 2. | Southwestern University (1) | 57 |
| 3. | University of Dallas | 43 |
| 4. | University of St. Thomas | 30 |
| Texas Lutheran University | 30 | |
| 6. | Centenary College | 29 |
| 7. | Austin College | 19 |
| 8. | Schreiner University | 17 |
