Aug. 27, 2008

WASHINGTON - The American University women's soccer team was chosen to finish fourth in the Preseason Patriot League Poll, the league announced. AU finished 10-6-3 a season ago.

The United States Naval Academy was chosen to win the conference in a vote by head coaches and sports information directors. The defending Patriot League champions received four first-place votes and 88 overall points. Coaches and sports information directors cannot vote for their own teams.

After earning the top seed in the 2007 Patriot League Tournament, Bucknell follows closely behind Navy, garnering eight first-place votes and 86 overall points. Colgate was selected to take third place in the conference and received 72 overall points and one first-place vote. The Eagles received the remaining three first-place votes and was selected to finish fourth in the conference with 70 overall points. Rounding out the rest of the preseason poll are Lehigh (49), Army (42), Holy Cross (23) and Lafayette (18).

Coaches and sports information directors also voted for Preseason Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year for the first time. Bucknell's Jennifer Dervarics was selected as the Preseason Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year, while Navy's Shelly Moeller received the nod for Preseason Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year.

AU dropped its home opener to cross-town rival Georgetown on Saturday and will return to action this week on the Hoya's home turf to face Ohio University on Friday at 12 noon and UMBC at noon on Sunday.