SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Defending Southern Conference regular-season and tournament champion Samford is the preseason favorite to win the 2022 Southern Conference women’s soccer title in voting of the league’s 10 head coaches. The Bulldogs edged Furman 4-2 in the 2021 Southern Conference Championship to claim their second tournament championship in the last three seasons and have won at least a share of the regular-season title in eight straight seasons.
The coaches also selected an 11-member preseason all-conference team. Samford picked up a league-best four selections. Furman and Mercer both had two selections, while The Citadel, Chattanooga and ETSU each placed one on the team.
Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams or players in the balloting.
Samford, which garnered nine first-place votes, finished with 81 points. Furman, the 2020-21 tournament champion, was second with 61 points and had one first-place vote, while Mercer was picked third with 60 points. Western Carolina was picked fourth with 52 points. Chattanooga was selected fifth with 51 points and UNCG was behind them with 47 points to take sixth. ETSU (35) and The Citadel (34) were separated by just one point, finishing in seventh and eighth, respectively. Wofford had 19 points to finish ninth and VMI rounded out the poll with 10 points.
Samford went 16-3-3 overall last season and went a perfect 9-0 in league play en route to the regular-season title. The Bulldogs followed their conference tournament championship with a 2-0 win over Auburn in the first round of the NCAA tournament before tying St. John’s, which advanced on penalty kicks.
The Bulldogs’ four preseason all-conference selections – Taylor Yount, Mary Raymond, Kylie Gazza and Kyla Reynolds – will all be in their senior campaign this season. Yount and Gazza finished last season as first-team all-conference performers, while Raymond was on the second team.
Yount netted five goals and amassed 11 points in conference games a season ago, which placed her in the top three in the league in both categories. Raymond scored five goals in SoCon play in 2021 and had one of her best games of the season in the tournament final, when she scored two goals en route to being named the tournament’s most outstanding player. Gazza, the 2021 SoCon Defensive Player of the Year, led all league defenders last season in shots (10), points (6) and goals (3). Reynolds scored six points and three goals in conference play in 2021. She was a member of the all-tournament team two seasons ago and a member of the all-freshman team back in 2019.
Furman put midfielder Nieva Gaither and defender Miya Poplin on the preseason all-conference team. Both were all-conference performers following last season. The Paladins finished the 2021 season with a 12-6-1 overall record and 6-3 mark in conference games.
Gaither is the reigning SoCon Player of the Year after leading the league in points (15) and goals (7) during conference games in her sophomore campaign. Poplin was a second-team all-conference performer in 2021 as she started all 19 matches for the Paladins a season ago.
Mercer, which made an appearance in the tournament semifinals last season after amassing an 7-6-5 record and finishing 3-2-4 in league action, put midfielder Ciara Whitely and defender Kylie Buchanan, both 2021 second-team all-conference picks, on the preseason all-conference squad.
Chattanooga defender Maggie Shaw, The Citadel forward Suzuka Yosue and ETSU goalkeeper Shu Ohba round out the preseason squad. All were first-team all-conference selections after the 2021 season, and Ohba was named the conference’s freshman of the year.
The 2022 regular season begins on Thursday, Aug. 18, as The Citadel, ETSU, Mercer, UNCG, Samford, Chattanooga, VMI, Western Carolina and Wofford are all in action. Furman begins its season the following day.
The SoCon Women’s Soccer Championship will feature all 10 schools. The first round will feature two matchups, No. 7 vs. No. 10 and No. 8 vs. No. 9, and will be held at the higher seeds on Oct. 25. The quarterfinals and semifinals, hosted by the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, will take place on Oct. 28 and Oct. 30, respectively. The SoCon Championship will be held at the highest remaining seed on Nov. 5 or Nov. 6.
2022 Women’s Soccer Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Samford (9) 81
2. Furman (1) 61
3. Mercer 60
4. Western Carolina 52
5. Chattanooga 51
6. UNCG 47
7. ETSU 35
8. The Citadel 34
9. Wofford 19
10. VMI 10
() denotes first-place votes
2022 Women’s Soccer Preseason All-Conference Team
F Suzuka Yosue, The Citadel
F Kyla Reynolds, Samford
F Taylor Yount, Samford
MF Nieva Gaither, Furman
MF Ciara Whitely, Mercer
MF Mary Raymond, Samford
D Miya Poplin, Furman
D Kylie Buchanan, Mercer
D Kylie Gazza, Samford
D Maggie Shaw, Chattanooga
GK Shu Ohba, ETSU