University of Maryland Athletics

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Women's Soccer Maryland Athletics

Terps Picked To Finish Eighth In ACC Preseason Women's Soccer Poll

Aug. 6, 2005

Greensboro, N.C. - The Maryland women's soccer team, which returns nine starters from a team that advanced to the NCAA's Sweet 16 a year ago, was picked to finish eighth in the 2005 ACC preseason poll, as determined by a vote of the league's 11 head coaches. North Carolina was selected as the top pick for the 2005 season.

The Tar Heels, who finished as last year's conference runner-up, tallied 120 points including ten first-place votes. North Carolina returns 19 letterwinners and ten starters, including junior Heather O'Reilly who led the Tar Heels in points (37) and goals (13) a season ago. Last year, North Carolina finished the season 20-1-2 and went 9-0-0 in conference play en route to its fourth straight ACC regular season title.

Virginia was picked to finish second receiving 109 points and one first-place vote. The Cavaliers return 12 letterwinners and six starters from last year's squad that finished 17-3-2 overall and claiming its first conference title downing North Carolina in a penalty kick shootout. Sarah Huffman, ACC Defensive Player of the Year and Co-MVP of the ACC Tournament in 2004, heads the list of returnees for the Cavaliers in 2005.

Duke is the coaches' pick to finish third after accumulating 99 points. The Blue Devils, who finished the 2004 season with a record of 15-8-0, return ten starters and 22 letterwinners from last year's team that advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament.

Completing the preseason poll in order of projected finish are Clemson (74), Boston College (70), Florida State (63), Wake Forest (62), Maryland (47), Virginia Tech (36), NC State (27) and Miami (19). Below is a listing of the preseason coaches' poll with 2004 records.

2005 Preseason ACC Women's Soccer Poll

SchoolPoints2004 Record
1. North Carolina (10)12020-1-2 (9-0-0)
2. Virginia (1)10917-3-2 (6-2-1)
3. Duke9915-8-0 (5-4-0)
4. Clemson7410-8-2 (4-4-1)
5. Boston College7015-7-1 (7-3-0)*
6. Florida State6312-5-3 (5-3-1)
7. Wake Forest6210-7-2 (4-4-1)
8. Maryland479-7-4 (3-4-2)
9. Virginia Tech3611-9-0 (4-5-0)
10. NC State277-8-3 (1-8-0)
11. Miami193-13-0 (1-8-0)

* denotes Big East conference record in 2004

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