The Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) announced the 2021 WHAC Women's Soccer Preseason Coaches Poll on Wednesday afternoon. The Siena Heights women's soccer team was picked to finish sixth in the poll. The Saints finished the 2020-21 year with a 5-6 overall record and a 4-5 mark in league play to finish seventh in the standings, making the team's spot in the preseason poll an improvement on last year's finish.
"We expected to be underrated based on the results of last season," said SHU women's soccer coach Scott Oliver. "We look forward to getting to work and proving we belong higher in the standings."
The Saints return a large core of the team from last season including senior goalkeeper Kara Bishop, junior forward Marissa Young, and a trio of defenders including second-team All-WHAC selection Kaleigh Mahaz along with WHAC All-Newcomers MacKenzie Stenzel, and Emily Broman. Siena Heights lost forward Ashley Strong and midfielder Macy Llewellyn to graduation while adding depth to the roster through recruiting along with the experience gained by young players last year should help fill the holes left by departing players.
The preseason poll is voted on by the coaches in the league who rank each team in the WHAC from 1-12. Twelve points are given to the team at the top of the list, 11 points to the second-ranked team, and so on to determine the order of the poll.
Defending regular-season champion Aquinas topped the poll with 143 points after receiving 11 of the 12 first-place votes. In the second spot was UNOH who received the final first-place vote to finish with 131 points. Last season's WHAC Tournament champion Madonna held onto third with 121 points. Lawrence Tech jumped two spots to fourth place with 98 points. Cornerstone fell to fifth with 91 points while Siena Heights improved to sixth with 90 points. Concordia (Mich.) fell two spots to seventh with 81 points and Indiana Tech held firmly to eighth place with 55 points. Lourdes stayed put in ninth with 47 points while Cleary snuck in at 10th with 30 points. Michigan-Dearborn (25) and Rochester (24) rounded out the poll.
For the WHAC release of the 2021 Women's Soccer Preseason Coaches Poll, click here.
