LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University women's soccer team was picked to finish in a tie for sixth-place in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference this season, as announced in the PSAC Preseason Coaches Poll released by the league office Thursday.

The PSAC will switch from its traditional divisional format this season, breaking up what was an Eastern and Western division previously and combining all 15 institutions with women's soccer into one conference. This move means that The Rock will play each team in the conference once and the top-eight teams in the standings will advance to the playoffs at the end of the season.

Defending champion West Chester, winner of three of the last four titles, was picked to repeat this season with nine first-place votes. California (Pa.) was selected second with five first-place votes. Indiana (Pa.) rounded out the top three, while last year's runner-up Kutztown was picked fourth with the one first-place nod. Gannon was selected fifth, followed by The Rock and Mercyhurst in a tie for sixth, Bloomsburg and East Stroudsburg tied for eighth and Edinboro rounding out the top-10. Shippensburg, Millersville, Lock Haven, Mansfield and Clarion rounded out the poll.

The Rock posted a 10-5-3 overall record in 2009 in what was a season of near misses. All of the team's five losses were by one goal and for the season, SRU only allowed 15 goals for a combined 0.80 goals against average. The Rock doubled up on opponents by netting 30 goals on the year.

This year's squad returns 16 players, including eight that saw significant time as a starter last fall. Among that list of returners are each of the top six scorers and the starting goalkeeper.

All-PSAC and All-Region forward Alison Hindley tops the list of returners, along with fellow senior Ashley Paganie at the forward position. Paganie led the team last year with nine goals and four assists for 22 points, while Hindley added seven goals and four assists to finish second on the team in scoring.

Junior midfielder Alyssa Barrett finished third on the team in scoring with five goals and two assists, while senior forward Juliana Howell netted three goals and handed out one assist.

Junior forward Shelby Layman scored two goals and had three helpers and sophomore forward Shelby Ward scored one goal and had two assists in her freshman season.

Along with the top-six returning scorers, The Rock returns three starting defenders in seniors Rachel Knapp and Dana Kiger and sophomore Emer Flatley. Kiger started in all 18 games last season, with Knapp starting 16 and appearing in all 18 and handing out two assists. Flatley appeared in 17 games in her first year at SRU and scored her first collegiate goal. Also returning on defense is sophomore Samantha Robertson, who started in nine games a freshman last season.

Sophomore goalkeeper Alli Bird took over the starting job last season for the final eight games of the year. She allowed just four goals in 695 minutes for a 0.52 goals against average. She finished with a 5-2-1 record, four individual shutouts and a save percentage of .852. Bird will be backed up by fellow sophomore Dana O'Neill.

Joining the returners this season will be junior defender Toni DiRenzo. DiRenzo was on the squad last season, but had to sit one year after transferring from Division I University of Baltimore, Maryland County. She is expected to push for a starting spot and make an immediate impact on defense.

Along with DiRenzo, seven freshman will join The Rock this fall, including two foreign players and five from Pennsylvania.

Forward Kara Mullins will join the squad from the University of Galway in Ireland and fellow forward Danielle Turner joins the team from Stockport College in England. Both are expected to make an impact on the offensive side of the field.

Stephanie Buckenheimer, Amanda Cerminara, Meghan Lavrusky, Izabel Scott and Bridget Stovall round out the newcomers.

The Rock's 2010 schedule opens with two non-conference games on the road with trips to West Virginia Wesleyan and Seton Hill before the home and PSAC schedule opens Sept. 8 when Millersville travels to SRU.

The schedule features 18 regular season games, including eight at home. With the new PSAC format, the team will be forced to play on back-to-back days twice during the season. The first of those weekends will be on the road with games at Bloomsburg and East Stroudsburg Sept. 17 and 18, followed by home games with California (Pa.) and Shippensburg Sept. 24 and 25.

The final regular season game is scheduled for Oct. 30 at Lock Haven, with the PSAC playoffs scheduled to be contested Nov. 2-6. The NCAA Tournament is slated to begin Nov. 12.


2010 PSAC Preseason Coaches Poll
(First-place votes in parenthesis)

1. West Chester (9)
2. California (5)
3. Indiana
4. Kutztown (1)
5. Gannon
T6. Slippery Rock
T6. Mercyhurst
T8. Bloomsburg
T8. East Stroudsburg
10. Edinboro
11. Shippensburg
12. Millersville
13. Lock Haven
14. Mansfield
15. Clarion