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Two Colorado teams in women’s top 10
Colorado School of Mines and Metro State each earned spots in the top 10 in the preseason NCAA Division II Women’s soccer poll from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.
The poll, released on Wednesday, is led by defending national champions Grand Valley State.
The Orediggers, starting the team’s sixth season, netted the No. 7 ranking in the poll. Metro State, which won national titles in 2004 and 2006, nabbed the No. 10 spot.
Mines finished second in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference posting a record of 13-3 in conference play and an overall record of 19-5-1. The Orediggers earned their second consecutive berth in the NCAA Division II Central Region Tournament in 2009 and snared the No. 3 seed. Mines won a pair of games in Durango, Colo., against Regis University (2-1) and Fort Lewis (2-1) to advance to the Central Region Championship.
Mines defeated Metro State in a shootout at Auraria Field in Denver to advance to the Elite Eight. In the Elite Eight, the Orediggers fell to Grand Valley State 3-0.
Metro State returns seven starters from last year’s team that went 21-1-2 and won its eighth consecutive RMAC championship. Junior defender Courtney Ryan is back after earning first team All-America honors as she led all defenders in the country in assists with 15, the most for a defender in school history.
The Roadrunners must replace All-America forward Becca Mays and all-region forward Jen Thomas on offense. Mays finished her four-year career second all-time in points and goals at Metro State. The team also will look to replace All-America defender Kathryn Gosztyla and all-region goalkeeper Becca Maloney.
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