GRANVILLE, Ohio (August 17, 2022) – The 2022 Women’s Soccer Preseason Poll was just released by the North Coast Athletic Conference and Denison University was picked to finish first. The Big Red received 60 total points and collected six of the eight first-place votes. Wittenberg University (54 votes; 1 first-place vote) was second, the College of Wooster (47 votes; 1 first-place vote) was third and Kenyon College (44 votes) was fourth.
In 2021, Denison finished 11-5 overall and 7-1 in the NCAC while bringing home their conference-best 11th NCAC Regular-Season Championship, their eighth such championship in the tenure of Head Coach Gail Murphy (310-124-44).
The Big Red will lose seniors and first-team all-conference players Abby King (NCAC Midfielder of the Year), Katie Livingston (NCAC Defensive Player of the Year) and Patil Tcholakian (four-year starting goalkeeper) from a year ago, but will bring back first-teamer and forward Amy Chieroand second-team all-conference player and midfielder Ellie Reiser. Chiero tallied three goals and a team-high four assists last season for the Big Red while Rieser, who started in 15 of Denison’s 16 games and tallied one goal in 2021, scored the game-winner against Calvin on Sept. 11.
The Big Red open their season with a road trip to Rochester, New York, to play RIT on Friday, September 2, followed by Nazareth College the following day.
2022 Women’s Soccer Preseason Poll