Tampa Women's Soccer Fourth in SSC Preseason Poll

MELBOURNE, Fla. - Sunshine State Conference women's soccer coaches have voted Barry University as the top squad heading into the 2019 season, with the University of Tampa listed in fourth. With 92 total points and five first-place votes in the poll, the Buccaneers are expected to win a second consecutive regular-season championship.

Nova Southeastern University lands in a close second place with 92 points, while Rollins College comes in third with 84 points. Both the Sharks and Tars garnered three first-place votes from league coaches. The University of Tampa (75  points) and  Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (68 points) round out the Top-5 teams in the preseason ranking.

Head coach Erin Switalski leads her Spartans into the 2019 season after going 7-6-4 last season, including a 5-3-2 mark in league play. The Spartans return nine starters from last year, including leading scorer Emily Cady (8 G). Moeko Morse enjoyed a stellar freshman campaign with six goals and one assist. Megan Bromwell emerged as the starting goalkeeper, starting 16 games while making 47 saves with two shutouts.

Florida Tech sits in the middle of the poll (48 points) and is followed closely in the voting by the Florida Southern College (43 points) and Eckerd College (36 points). Palm Beach Atlantic University (31 points), Lynn University (23 points), and Saint Leo University (13 points) hold the final three positions in the ranking.

Barry won both the regular-season title and tournament championship in 2018, marking the third time in program history the Buccaneers captured both trophies in the same season. Barry, Nova Southeastern, and Rollins represented the SSC in the 2018 NCAA Postseason Tournament. The Tars and Sharks both fell in the first round, while the Buccaneers lost in the second round. Tampa owns the league's most recent women's soccer national title (2007) and is just one of three SSC programs with a national championship trophy (Barry [3] and Lynn [1].

Seven SSC squads are set to begin the 2019 season in non-conference action on Thursday, September 5th. The conference schedule starts with a three-game slate on Saturday, September 21st. Barry (No. 20) is the lone SSC representative in the 2019 United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division II preseason women's poll, which was released on Tuesday, August 6th.

Tampa opens its season on Friday, September 6 at home against the University of West Alabama at 7 p.m., in the first of a pair of games that weekend. The Spartans then host Mississippi College on Sunday at 1 p.m.

2019 SSC WOMEN'S SOCCER PRESEASON COACHES POLL

(First Place Votes)