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News Release
UMBC Selected To Claim NEC Women’s Soccer Championship
9/3/2002
UMBC Selected To Claim NEC Women’s Soccer Championship Retrievers Tabbed Early Season Favorite To Dethrone 2001 Champion Sacred Heart Somerset, NJ -- According to a poll of league head coaches, UMBC has been selected as thepreseason favorite to win the 2002 NEC Women’s Soccer Championship. Guided by head coachMichelle Salmon, the Retrievers made an impressive turnaround last season, transforming themselvesfrom a sub .500 team into NEC Finalists, finishing the year at 11-6-2 (8-2 NEC). In only her thirdseason at the helm, Salmon returns an outstanding squad that will be focused on winning its first-everNortheast Conference Championship. In order to claim the title, UMBC will need to hold offQuinnipiac, which was voted a close second in the preseason poll. UMBC returns a strong contingent from last season, including three all-conference players. Sophomore forward Missy Moore (Silver Spring, MD/Good Counsel) enjoyed a stellar freshmancampaign, earning both NEC all-conference and NEC Rookie of the Year honors. She returns asthe league’s top offensive threat this year, after ranking first in the NEC in scoring (32 points - 14goals & 4 assists) and goals per game (0.74) last season. Defensively, the Retrievers will rely uponall-NEC performers, junior backs Kristen English (Millersville, MD/Old Mill) and Jessa Karko(Perry Hall, MD/Institute of Notre Dame). English was named to the first team last season, whileKarko has been a second team selection for the last two years. Sophomore forwards LaurenCunningham (Baltimore, MD/Institute of Notre Dame) (5 goals & 3 assists) and Roula Adams(Baltimore, MD/Mercy) (1 goal) will also be key ingredients in the team’s hunt for an NECChampionship title. Quinnipiac, which has won the regular season title the last two years and the championship crown in2000, looks to pose the biggest threat to the Retrievers. Returning senior forwards Elisa Goncalves(South Windsor, CT/South Windsor) and Alison Jaquith (Spencer, Mass/David Prouty) make upwhat could be considered the league’s strongest tandem up front. Both closed out last season tiedfor third in the league in scoring with 22 points on 9 goals and 4 assists. Goncalves has been amember of the all-NEC first team for three consecutive seasons, while Jaquith has claimedall-conference second team honors twice. Senior defender Melissa Ganias (Wallingford,CT/Sheehan), a two-time all-NEC first teamer, returns as the backbone of a defensive unit thatallowed just 23 goals last season. The top four teams will advance to the 2002 NEC Women’s Soccer Championship, which will behosted by Central Connecticut State University on November 8 & 10, 2002. The winner of theNEC Championship will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, which is slated tobegin in mid-November. 2002 Northeast Conference Women’s Soccer Preseason Coaches Poll 1. UMBC (4) 2. Quinnipiac (4) 3. Monmouth 4. Central Connecticut State 5. Sacred Heart (2) 6. St. Francis (PA) (1) 7. Long Island 8. Fairleigh Dickinson 9. Robert Morris 10. Wagner 11. Mount St. Mary’s (First place votes in parentheses)