BOSTON – Reigning America East women’s soccer champion Stony Brook is the league’s preseason favorite for the spring 2021 season per the preseason coaches’ poll that was unveiled on Wednesday afternoon.
Stony Brook, winner of the 2019 #AEWSOC regular-season and tournament titles, were a unanimous selection earning all nine possible first-place votes and 81 points. Hartford, the 2019 runner up, earned 70 points and the final first-place vote while UAlbany, co-regular-season champion with Stony Brook in 2019, was third with 58 points. Here is the full poll:
Spring 2021 America East Women’s Soccer Preseason Poll
No. School Points (1st Place Votes)
1. Stony Brook 81 (9)
2. Hartford 70 (1)
3. UAlbany 58
4. UMass Lowell 53
5. New Hampshire 50
6. Binghamton 47
7. NJIT 35
8. Maine 26
9. Vermont 20
10. UMBC 10
Stony Brook’s Alyssa Francese, who was named to the Hermann Trophy preseason watch list, headlines the league’s top returnees along with Hartford’s All-Conference standouts Anna Cronin and Maia Perez.
New Hampshire will be the first team in action as they kick off their season this Sunday, Feb. 14 at home against Northeastern. Conference play begins on March 7 as teams are scheduled to play a total of six league games. NJIT's addition gives the league 10 teams, which will be broken into two five-team divisions and play each team within its pod once plus two additional matches. Due to COVID-19 schedules are subject to change. Full 2021 #AEWSOC Schedule
The top two teams in each division will qualify for the America East Women’s Soccer Championship, which will be held at tournament's top seed. The semifinals take place on April 15 and the championship tilt on April 17. The league champion will earn the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
Fans will once again be able to watch the majority of #AEWSOC this season. Select games will air on The AE on ESPN while others will air on AmericaEast.TV. Those games will be available on computers, OTT devices and the brand new America East app, which is available on all IOS and Android devices and can be found by searching ‘America East Conference’ in app stores.
Follow the @AEDigitalNet Twitter account to stay up-to-date on America East women’s lacrosse news all season long and use #AEWSOC to join the conversation.
About America East: The America East provides its member schools and their athletic programs a platform upon which student-athletes can achieve both collegiate and life success through the promotion and nurturing of athletic excellence, academic achievement and leadership, on and off the field.
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