Aug. 4, 2010

Newport News, Va. - The Atlantic 10 Conference released its women's soccer preseason poll on Wednesday, as voted upon by the league's coaches. In the poll, Fordham was picked third in the 14-team listing, which is the highest the Rams have been selected to finish since joining the Atlantic 10.

For the second-straight year, Dayton has been selected as the preseason favorite, with Charlotte in second.

Fordham was picked third, followed by Saint Louis, Richmond, La Salle, St. Bonaventure, and Rhode Island. Duquesne and George Washington tied for ninth, while Massachusetts, Saint Joseph's, Temple and Xavier round out the 14 league teams.

Including this year, Fordham has progressed up the preseason poll in each of the last six years, which coincides with the Rams reaching the Atlantic 10 semifinals the past four seasons, and includes two Championship game appearances in 2006 and 2007. In the 2005 poll, the Rams were rated 12th, and have progressed to 11th (2006), sixth (2007), fifth (2008), fourth (2009), and now to their best preseason ranking at third (2010).

Last week, Fordham had two players, senior Katie McDermott and sophomore Annie Worden, selected to the preseason All-Conference team, while freshman Avilla Bergin was named to the preseason All-Rookie Team.

The Fordham women's soccer team will begin their 18th season of varsity play in 2010, and will open at home on Sunday, August 22nd against Seton Hall University from the BIG EAST.

The season will conclude with the six-team A-10 Women's Soccer Championship to be held Nov. 4-7 at the URI Soccer Complex in Kingston, Rhode Island.

2010 Predicted Order of Finish (2009 A-10/Overall record in parentheses)
1. Dayton (10-0-1/16-1-6)
2. Charlotte (9-0-2/16-3-2)
3. Fordham (7-4-0/9-12-1)
4. Saint Louis (4-4-3/8-9-4)
5. Richmond (4-6-1/8-10-2)
6. La Salle (4-6-1/10-8-2)
7. St. Bonaventure (7-4-0/10-11-0)
8. Rhode Island (4-7-0/6-12-1)
9. Duquesne (4-7-0/7-11-0)
9. George Washington (4-5-2/7-8-4)
11. Massachusetts (5-6-0/6-11-2)
12. Saint Joseph's (4-6-1/7-9-3)
13. Temple (3-8-0/7-11-1)
14. Xavier (2-8-1/3-15-1)