Women's Soccer
Ripon, Wis. – Carroll University looks to continue its run as the Midwest Conference elite after receiving eight of the nine possible first place votes in the 2010 MWC Women’s Soccer Preseason Poll. The Pioneers have claimed the NCAA automatic bid in the past three seasons and have not lost multiple conference regular season games since 2003 when they finished 6-2-1.
Lake Forest came in second by earning the other two first place votes. St. Norbert finished a distant third followed by Grinnell, the last team not named Carroll to earn the NCAA automatic bid, who rounded out the top four. Lawrence finished closely behind Grinnell followed by Beloit for the fifth and sixth spots, respectively, while Monmouth, Ripon, Knox and Illinois College round out the 2010 poll.
The league’s lone off-season coaching change came at Illinois College where Becky Golas replaces Shane Taylor who stepped down at the end of the 2009 season. Golas joins the Lady Blues after serving as an assistant coach at Lewis and Clark in 2009.
Carroll’s Jason Bretzmann won his third straight MWC Coach of the Year award in 2009 and will welcome back MWC Offensive Player of the Year Cody Callender, while the conference will name a new MWC Defensive Player of the year after the graduation of Pioneer defender Ashlee Reinke.
For full MWC Women's Soccer Preseason Coaches Poll Release
click here.
Men's Soccer
Ripon, Wis. – For the third straight season Carroll University heads the pack of title contenders for the 2010 Midwest Conference Men’s Soccer Championship after picking up six first place votes. The Pioneers, who haven’t lost a conference game since the 2007 season are a near perfect 17-0-1 in the past two seasons.
Carroll has won the last two regular season championships and has also won two of the last three tournament championships after last season when Grinnell upset the Pioneers and earned the NCAA automatic qualifier. Beloit returns a deep team and was a close second, receiving three first place votes. St. Norbert finished third in the poll and has advanced to the four-team MWC Tournament in each of the last eight years while winning it five times from the years 2002-2006.
Last year’s tournament champion Grinnell finished fourth in the balloting followed closely by Lake Forest, who received one first place vote. Ripon, Illinois College, Lawrence, Monmouth and Knox round out the preseason poll.
The conference will see two new faces on the sidelines as Knox and Illinois College will have new head coaches heading into 2010. Kevwe Akpore takes over at Knox, replacing Jeff Bernhardt, after serving as the head coach for the Knox women’s soccer team in 2002. Steve Golas takes over at Illinois College after manning the sidelines for the Lewis and Clark Women’s Soccer team in 2009.
Grinnell’s Brian Jaworski was named the MWC Coach of the Year in 2009, becoming the first Grinnell coach to win the award. Carroll lost one of its top players as they look to replace MWC Offensive Player of the Year Andy Prentice while returning MWC Defensive Player of the Year Justin Ziegler.
For full MWC Women's Soccer Preseason Coaches Poll Release click here.