The High Point University women's soccer team was picked to finish fourth with 69 points in the 2010 Big South Conference preseason poll, as voted on by the league's head coaches, the conference announced on Tuesday.
Liberty, the defending 2009 regular-season champions, received five first-place votes and 94 points as the 2010 women's soccer favorite. The Flames finished just ahead of Charleston Southern in the poll, as the Buccaneers totaled 87 points and four first-place votes. Coastal Carolina garnered third place with 72 points. Radford placed fifth in the voting with 68 points, while Gardner-Webb gathered 55 points for the sixth spot. Winthrop was seventh with 36 points, followed by VMI (eighth, 31 points) and UNC Asheville (ninth, 23 points). Presbyterian College rounded out the poll in 10th place with 15 points.
Last season, the Panthers won their third Big South Tournament championship since 2003, posting three-straight shutouts in the tournament. HPU played eventual national champion North Carolina in the first round of the NCAA Championship, falling to the Tar Heels, 1-0. It was High Point's closest loss in three tries against UNC.
The Panthers return several of their top players including second-team All-Big South honoree and leading scorer
Janay Whittaker and Big South All-Tournament team selections
Danniel Rosado and
Brielle Spencer. Whittaker led HPU with six points on three goals last season. All three of the goals were game winners and were scored during a crucial three-game stretch late in the conference season. Rosado and Spencer were a key part of High Point's defensive turnaround last season, helping HPU post six shutouts in the team's final 10 games.
High Point opens the season with an exhibition game at UNC Greensboro on Wednesday, Aug. 11 before returning home to kick-off the regular season with back-to-back home games against Francis Marion on Aug. 20 and Campbell on Aug. 23. HPU's challenging non-conference slate includes four games against teams from the ACC - NC State, Duke, Clemson and Wake Forest.
2009 Big South Conference Preseason Women's Soccer Poll
| Team (first place votes) |
Points |
| Liberty (5) |
94 |
| Charleston Southern (4) |
87 |
| Coastal Carolina |
72 |
| High Point (1) |
69 |
| Radford |
68 |
| Gardner- Webb |
55 |
| Winthrop |
36 |
| VMI |
31 |
| UNC Asheville |
23 |
| Presbyterian |
15 |
