Coaches say Seahawks will finish sixth according to preseason poll
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – After back-to-back Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Regular-Season titles, Endicott will seek the CCC Tournament Championship as the preseason favorite as determined by the CCC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
The Gulls earned 75 points in the voting and claimed five of a possible nine first place votes that were cast by the league's nine women's soccer head coaches last week.
Salve Regina, which finished sixth in the CCC a year ago, has been picked to finish in the same spot again this season.
Fifth-year head coach Jane Walsh has a lot of positive elements joining the program this year.
"We have the strongest freshman class that I've seen since taking over the program in 2015. We will rely on our new players to fill in gaps left by key players whom graduated last year."
Walsh sees opportunities for all players to make an impact. "I'm really excited to see how some of our returning players react to the opportunity. I expect to see big performances from Mia Papiro (Glen Head, N.Y.), Devyn DeFalco (Brockton, Mass.), and Carah Cote (Adams, Mass.) in the attack. These are some of our smartest, most skilled attacking players with the tenacity to create goal-scoring opportunities and find the back of the net."
Katie Szemreylo (Marlborough, Conn.) and Amanda Bentz (Mount Wolf, Pa.) will likely be the strongest central midfielders for the Seahawks and command most of the minutes in the middle. Salve Regina returns its entire back line with Kayla McLaughlin (East Hampton, Conn.), Molly Leary (Portland, Conn.), Emily Szemreylo (Marlborough, Conn.), and Jessica Watson (Holbrook, N.Y.). "These are mature, well-seasoned players who together will bring control and consistency defensively."
Walsh will look for her third-year assistant, Sue Silva, to provide tactical and analytical expertise to reinforce the team's game plan. Hanna MacDougall, a former Springfield College women's soccer player and assistant coach at UMass Dartmouth, will take control of goalkeeper training.
"If utilized correctly, all of these positive elements will produce a winning season," said Walsh. "I look forward to the challenge."
Eight teams get their non-conference schedules started on Friday, Aug. 30 to begin the women's soccer season. The first conference play date is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 21. The top seven teams in the conference standings at the end of the regular-season will compete for the CCC Tournament Championship which begins with three quarterfinal matchups on Saturday, Nov. 2. The quarterfinal winners will advance to the semifinals on Wednesday, Nov. 6 to compete for a berth in the CCC Tournament Championship on Saturday, Nov. 9. The CCC Tournament Champion will earn the conference's automatic qualifier into the 2019 NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Championship.
Click HERE to view the whole 2019 CCC women's soccer schedule.