Grove City #1 PAC women’s soccer preseason poll; Westminster is #3 | Titantown Sports

GREENVILLE, Pa. (pacathletics.org)–The Grove City College women’s soccer program was designated the favorite this fall in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC), according to the league’s annual preseason coaches’ poll. The results of this year’s poll, voted on by the conference’s 10 head coaches, were revealed with the PAC’s Players to Watch List Tuesday afternoon. 

Grove City and 29th-year head coach Melissa Lamie claimed seven first-place votes and 88 total points to top the preseason poll. 

The Wolverines earned the top seed in last spring’s championship tournament after concluding the regular season with an unblemished 9-0 league record. After posting a 3-0 semifinal shutout win over No. 4 Franciscan University on April 28, Grove City fell to No. 2 Chatham University 3-1 in the tournament’s title match on May 1. Grove City owns seven PAC women’s soccer championships. 

Chatham, led by 11th-year head coach Betsy Warren, earned the final three first-place votes and 83 points to finish second in the preseason coaches’ poll. The Cougars scored their first-ever PAC women’s soccer title last spring. Chatham has made two-straight appearances in the league’s championship match and appeared in the championship tournament five years in a row. Warren was selected as the PAC Coach of the Year on May 13. The coach of the year award was Warren’s second (2016). 

Westminster College and 20th-year head coach Girish Thakar finished third in the poll with 73 points. 

Franciscan University registered 64 points to finish fourth and was followed by Washington & Jefferson College in fifth (56), Waynesburg University in sixth (47), Geneva College in seventh (42), Saint Vincent College in eighth (36), Thiel College in ninth (30) and Bethany College in 10th (21). 

This season’s players to watch list includes five All-PAC First Team selections, eight All-PAC Second Team selections and a pair of All-PAC Honorable Mention selections from last spring. 

Chatham senior midfielder Morgan Anderson (Pittsburgh, Pa. | North Allegheny) highlights this year’s players to watch list. Named the PAC Player of the Year on May 13, Anderson started all 11 matches for the Cougars last spring and ranked third in the league with 19 points. Her eight goals were tied for the most in the league. Anderson opened the season with a career-high seven points (3G, 1A) in a 4-0 victory at Saint Vincent on March 13. She is the first player from Chatham to be voted PAC Player of the Year. In 48 career appearances (38 starts) Anderson has totaled 50 points on 19 goals and 12 assists. She was an All-PAC Second Team honoree and named to the league’s all-tournament team in 2019. 

Anderson was one of seven PAC women’s soccer players to earn College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Division III First Team Academic All-District^® honors on June 3, as voted upon by the region’s sports information directors. 

The players to watch list also includes 22 members of the 2020-21 PAC Academic Honor Roll, which recognizes student-athletes on varsity sports teams who have earned a grade-point average (GPA) of 3.6 or higher on a 4.0 scale during their semester of competition.

The league’s regular season concludes Wednesday, October 27 with the six-team PAC Championship Tournament scheduled to get underway Saturday, Oct. 30. The title match is slated for Saturday, November 6. 

This year’s tournament champion will secure the PAC’s automatic qualifying bid to the Division III Championship. Team selections for the Division III Championship will be announced Monday, Nov. 8, with the first and second rounds slated for Saturday-Sunday, Nov. 13-14. 

2021 PAC Women’s Soccer Players to Watch