Cavalier Women's Soccer Fourth in Preseason NSCAA Rankings

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Aug. 16, 2005

CHARLOTTESVILLE – The Virginia women’s soccer team was ranked fourth in National Soccer Coaches Association of America preseason rankings announced Tuesday. The Cavaliers are the highest ranked team in the Mid-Atlantic Region and are the second highest ranked ACC Team.

Virginia was fourth in the poll, trailing defending NCAA Champion Notre Dame, ACC rival North Carolina, and UCLA. Santa Clara, Texas A&M, Portland, Penn State, Connecticut and Ohio State round out the top ten. The Cavaliers will play seven teams ranked in the poll’s top 25 this season: North Carolina (#2), Penn State (#8), Tennessee (#11), Duke (#12), West Virginia (#15), Boston College (#16), and Wake Forest (#21). Virginia will also meet No. 1 Notre Dame in a preseason exhibition.

Virginia returns 12 letterwinners from the 2004 team that finished with a 17-3-2 record and captured the ACC Championship. 2004 ACC Defensive Player of the Year Sarah Huffman (Flower Mound, Texas) and All-ACC players Christina de Vries (Westlake Village, Calif.), Shannon Foley (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.), Kelly Hammond (Bowie, Md.), Noelle Keselica (Gaithersburg, Md.), and Becky Sauerbrunn (St. Louis, Mo.) are among the veterans on the 2005 team.

The Cavaliers open the 2005 season on Friday, August 26 as they host Rhode Island at Klockner Stadium.