Complete MIAC Women's Soccer Poll & Preview
ST. PAUL, Minn. — On the surface, it would appear the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's 2010 women's soccer season could play out strikingly similar to the way things went in 2009. The league's Player and Coach of the Year both return, and the top six teams from a year ago appear poised to pick up where they left off.
Concordia has won the MIAC championship three of the past four seasons, including last year thanks to a 18-1-2 overall mark and a near-perfect 10-0-1 record in conference play. This year, expectations soar just as high behind 2009 MIAC Coach of the Year Dan Weiler, and star Sam Johnson, who was the league's Player of the Year and Concordia's first All-American. Johnson led the MIAC in goals, points and game-winning goals.
With the Cobbers' returning talent and recent success, it should come as no surprise that Concordia was a near-unanimous No. 1 selection in the 2010 MIAC Women's Soccer Preseason Coaches' Poll. Concordia received 10 of the 12 first-place votes and finished with 120 out of a possible 121 points. Coaches were asked to vote for every team except their own, and 11 points were awarded for first, 10 for second, and so on.
The other two first-place votes, and the No. 2 spot in the poll, went to Carleton. The Knights claimed the MIAC Playoff championship a year ago — the first No. 4 seed to do so – and reached the NCAA Division III Championships. St. Thomas, which finished second in the league a year ago, was a close third in the poll with 100 total points. St. Olaf was picked to move up a spot into fourth, followed by Macalester, Saint Benedict, Augsburg, Gustavus, Bethel, St. Catherine, Saint Mary's and Hamline.
