Lady Cougars Tabbed Second in Preseason PBC Poll
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Augusta – The 22nd-ranked Columbus State University women's soccer team was selected second in the Peach Belt Conference Preseason Coaches Poll released Monday afternoon.
Columbus State finished 11 points behind the 2011 PBC regular season and tournament champion Lady Pirates of Armstrong Atlantic State University. Armstrong was a unanimous choice to repeat receiving all 11 possible first place votes for 121 total points (coaches were not permitted to vote for their own team).
Behind Armstrong and Columbus State in the top five were North Georgia (99), Clayton State (80) and Lander (78).
Columbus State is coming off a 16-4-3 season a year ago finishing third in the regular season standings. It was the first time since 2004 that CSU did not hold at least a share of the PBC regular season crown.
The Lady Cougars reached the NCAA Tournament for the sixth consecutive season reaching the second round before falling to Lenoir-Rhyne in a penalty kick shootout.
Head coach Jay Entlich returns eight starters from last season's squad and 14 players overall. Headlining the group is Preseason PBC All-Conference members Stephanie Lowery and Kansas Bayly. Lowery is a two-time All-American while Bayly earned her first All-American award in 2011 and was also named the PBC Co-Player of the Year.
Columbus State will begin the season on Friday, August 31 with a game against Florida Southern in the CSU Collegiate Invitational at 7:30 p.m. On Sunday, September 2, the Lady Cougars will take on eighth-ranked Tampa at 1:30 p.m. Both games will take place at the Walden Soccer Complex.
The preseason coaches poll is listed below. Teams were given 11 points for a first-place vote, 10 for a second and so on. Coaches were not permitted to rank their own teams.
|
Rank |
Team |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
5th |
6th |
7th |
8th |
9th |
10th |
11th |
Total |
| 1. | Armstrong | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 121 |
| 2. | Columbus State | 1 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 110 |
| 3. | North Georgia | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 99 |
| 4. | Clayton State | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 80 |
| 5. | Lander | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 78 |
| 6. | UNC Pembroke | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 73 |
| 7. | Georgia College | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 58 |
| 8. | Flagler | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 57 |
| 9. | Montevallo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 44 |
| 10. | Young Harris | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 38 |
| 11. | USC Aiken | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 21 |
| 12. | Georgia Southwestern | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 13 |
