Lady Saints picked 3rd in Preseason PBC Poll
AUGUSTA, GA – The North Georgia women’s
soccer team has been picked to finish third in the Peach Belt
Conference preseason poll according to the league’s head
coaches released this afternoon from the league office.
For the fifth straight year, Columbus State has been selected as
the Peach Belt Conference preseason favorite as the Cougars were
unanimous favorites in the top spot, receiving all 10 first-place
votes they were eligible for to finish ahead of second-place
Armstrong Atlantic State.
Behind North Georgia was Lander in fourth and GCSU in fifth.
Montevallo, UNC Pembroke, Flagler, Clayton State, USC Aiken and
Georgia Southwestern rounded out the voting.
North Georgia earns their best preseason poll ranking ever after
turning in their first 10-win season since joining the
conference. The Lady Saints went 10-5-2 overall and 6-3-1 in
conference play last year and return six former Peach Belt
All-Conference players, two Southeast All-Region players, and one
All-American.
The offense will be led by defending PBC Freshman of the Year
Kelsey Martin who tallied nine goals and three assists for 21
points as true freshman last season. All-American Casey Smith leads
the defense and is coming off six goals and nine assists last fall
as the senior is just nine assists from tying the PBC’s
all-time mark for assists in a career.
Chris Adams, the defending Peach Belt Conference Coach of the
Year, has tough road ahead for his Lady Saints, including
non-conference games against Belmont Abbey, Florida Southern,
Florida Tech, and Newberry College. One of the toughest schedules
in the country awaits North Georgia in league play, as the Lady
Saints will host defending PBC champion and preseason No. 12
Columbus State, while traveling to preseason 19th-ranked Armstrong
Atlantic the third week of October.
Columbus State, won their fifth consecutive regular-season
championship in 2009 and is 38-2-3 against league opponents in the
regular season during that run. Head coach Jay Entlich will
have to replace some scoring for 2010 with four of his top five
scorers gone, but does return preseason All-Conference selection
Stephanie Parrish who was second on the team with 10 goals last
year.
Armstrong Atlantic State won their first-ever PBC Tournament
championship in 2009 and are ranked #19 in the nation in the NSCAA
preseason poll. Head coach Eric Faulconer welcomes back 19
players from last year’s team, but will be without four-time
All-American and three-time PBC Player of the Year Kristin
Burton.
The 2010 women’s soccer season begins on Sept. 2 with
conference play kicking off Sept. 10. The season will
conclude with the PBC Tournament Nov. 2, 5-7, in Evans, Ga., which
is being played as part of the first-ever PBC Fall Festival which
brings the men’s and women’s soccer championships and
the men’s and women’s cross country championships to
Blanchard Woods Park on the same weekend.
The 2010 coaches poll is below. Coaches were not permitted
to rank their own teams.
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | Total |
| Columbus State | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
| Armstrong Atlantic St. | 1 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 88 |
| North Georgia | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 75 |
| Lander | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 68 |
| GCSU | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 61 |
| Montevallo | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 54 |
| UNC Pembroke | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 50 |
| Flagler | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 48 |
| Clayton State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 31 |
| USC Aiken | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 20 |
| Georgia Southwestern | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 10 |