Willamette Favored to Return to the Top

NWC Women's Soccer Coaches' Pre-Season Poll:			2002 records
School	(1st)	Pts.	All	NWC
1. Willamette (Ore.)	(7)	70	16-2-1	12-1-1
2. Puget Sound (Wash.)	(1)	55	17-2-1	12-1-1
3. Whitworth (Wash.)		47	6-11-1	5-8-1
4. Linfield (Ore.)		44	13-6-1	9-4-1
5. Whitman (Wash.)		27	9-9	5-9
6. Pacific (Ore.)		24	6-11-3	5-8-1
7. Pacific Lutheran (Wash.)		21	7-11-1	4-9-1
8. George Fox (Ore.)		9	1-15	1-13

(First-place votes in parenthesis. Points awarded on 9-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis).

Willamette University, which has won or shared nine of the last ten Northwest Conference women's soccer championships, is a strong favorite to return to the title in 2003 according to a poll of NWC coaches.

Willamette, which picked up seven of eight first place votes and 70 total poll points, will be led by two-time first team All-NWC forward Anne Merten. Merten was second in the NWC in points scored last season. The Bearcats were left out of last season's NCAA tournament despite a record of 16-2-1 and a top-ten national ranking.

Defending co-champion Puget Sound finished second in the poll with one first place vote and 55 poll points. The Loggers finished 17-2-1 and advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals in 2002. UPS will again be led by 2002 NWC Player of the Year Bridget Stolee, a junior.

Whitworth College and Linfield College were closely behind in third and fourth place, respectively, in the poll. The Pirates totaled 47 points and return All-NWC forward Heather Sale. The Wildcats had 44 points and are looking to replace 2002 NWC points leader Brynn Devlin.

Whitman College (27 points), Pacific University (24 points), and Pacific Lutheran University (21 points) were closely bunched in the fifth through seventh spots in the poll. All-NWC defender Meghan Bowen will lead Whitman, while Pacific will look to All-NWC defender Jamie MacLauchlan. PLU returns All-NWC midfielder Andrea Gabler.

George Fox University finished in eighth place in the poll with nine points.