Posted: Aug 23, 2019
Bulldogs come in third in SCAC Women's Soccer Preseason Coaches' Poll
SEGUIN, Texas -- The Texas Lutheran Bulldogs are the third pick in the 2019 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll after exclusive voting of the league's 10 head coaches.
Trinity is the unanimous choice to repeat as SCAC women’s soccer champions. The Tigers, who have won the last 10 conference titles and 109 consecutive SCAC regular season matches, received all nine first-place votes to earn 81 points in the preseason balloting.
The Tigers (17-2-1; 13-0 SCAC) won their 10th consecutive conference championship in 2018 with a 1-0 victory over Southwestern in the SCAC title match.
Southwestern University (11-6; 8-3) received 68 points as the coaches’ second choice.
TLU (8-5-4; 7-4-2) and Centenary College (9-6; 6-5) received 59 and 53 points to slot at third and fourth, respectively, in the preseason balloting.
The Bulldogs return a couple of Second Team All-SCAC performers in seniors Bailey Nimtz (New Braunfels/Canyon) and Jaclyn Smolik (Katy/Katy). Smolik finished fourth in the conference with nine goals. Sophomore Monique Sierra (San Antonio/Taft) was named to the SCAC Honorable Mention squad.
Smolik played in all 16 matches and made 15 starts for the Bulldogs. She finished first on the team in total points, with 18. Smolik also led the squad in game-winning goals with four. She scored all four game-winners, all in conference action, against Southwestern, Schreiner (twice), and Austin College.
Nimtz finished on a high note after also earning a spot, for the second consecutive year, on the SCAC Second Team. She was tied for third on the team in shots on goal (12) and third in total shots (25). She scored twice in TLU's SCAC quarterfinal match against Dallas.
Sierra scored four goals and added an assist in her freshman campaign.
The Bulldogs come off a 2018 season that ended with a quarterfinal draw in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships. The Bulldogs failed to advance in the tournament after falling in penalty kicks to the University of Dallas.
The next three teams in the coaches’ predicted order of balloting finished with seven points of each other with SCAC newcomer University of St. Thomas (Texas) (12-3-1; 10-0-1 RRAC), Johnson & Wales University (Denver) (6-8-1; 5-7-1) and University of Dallas (3-11-4; 2-8-2) are slotted to finish fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively. St. Thomas received 39 points, which included a couple of second-place nods, while Johnson & Wales compiled 35 points and Dallas 32.
Rounding out the coaches’ preseason poll, Schreiner University (5-10-3; 3-8-2) was picked eighth with 26 points and Austin College (0-13-1; 0-9-1) was ninth with 12 points.
The SCAC women's soccer season begins on Friday, August 30, with several teams competing in early season tournaments. The first conference matches of the season are scheduled for Friday, Oct. 2.
The 2019 SCAC Women's Soccer Tournament will be held in November on the campus of Southwestern University as quarterfinal matches will be contested on Friday, Nov. 8, the semifinal matches on Saturday, Nov. 9, and the championship match on Sunday, Nov. 10.
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2019 SCAC Women's Soccer Preseason Coaches' Poll |
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1. |
81 |
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2. |
68 |
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3. |
59 |
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4. |
53 |
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5. |
39 |
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6. |
35 |
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7. |
32 |
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8. |
26 |
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9. |
12 |
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