NAPERVILLE, Ill. – Wheaton was picked to win its third-straight College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) women’s soccer title according to a preseason coaches’ poll conducted Wednesday.
The Thunder (18-2-2, 6-0-1) won the poll with 47 points and five first place votes after they won their conference-leading 17th CCIW title and made their eighth consecutive appearance in the NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Championship in 2014.
Illinois Wesleyan (18-7-1, 5-1-1) was second in the poll with 45 points and three first place votes after the Titans advanced all the way to the NCAA’s Championship’s semifinal round for the first time in school history last season. It was their seventh NCAA postseason appearance overall.
Augustana (12-5-2, 5-2-0) was third with 33 points after the Vikings made their 13th-straight CCIW Tournament appearance last season.
Carthage (8-10-0, 3-4-0) placed fourth with 32 points, followed by Elmhurst (11-7-0, 4-3-0) in fifth with 27 points after the Bluejays qualified for the 2014 CCIW Tournament.
North Central (6-7-3, 2-4-1) was sixth with 18 points, while North Park (6-12-0, 1-6-0) and Millikin (3-13-2, 0-6-1) rounded out the poll with 14 and eight points respectively.
Voting is done by the CCIW's head women’s soccer coaches. Each coach votes for the seven other schools in the conference in order of predicted finish. Points are assigned in reverse order of voting (seven points for first, six for second, etc.). Coaches do not vote for their own teams.
The CCIW women’s soccer season begins Tuesday, September 1. The CCIW Preseason Football Poll will be announced Thursday, August 13.
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The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) was founded in 1946 and currently services eight member institutions including Augustana College (Rock Island, IL), Carthage College (Kenosha, WI), Elmhurst College (Elmhurst, IL), Illinois Wesleyan University (Bloomington, IL), Millikin University (Decatur, IL), North Central College (Naperville, IL), North Park University (Chicago, IL) and Wheaton College (Wheaton, IL). During the 2014-15 academic year, the CCIW honored over 1,500 academic all-conference recipients, 19 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, 46 CoSIDA Academic All-District recipients and 102 all-Americans.