Aug. 21, 2011

South Orange, N.J. - UPDATE: The Fordham-Seton Hall women's soccer game scheduled for 7:00 PM is in a weather/lightning delay. Tentative start time is 7:45 PM. (7:05 PM)

The Fordham women's soccer team gets their 2011 regular season underway on Sunday night, when it travels to South Orange, N.J. to meet the Seton Hall Pirates at 7:00 PM. It is the first of three straight games against Big East opponents, as Fordham with also face St. John's and Rutgers in this stretch.

LIVE COVERAGE: Links to video (pay SHU subscription) and live stats on SHUPirates.com.

SERIES HISTORY: Fordham holds a 4-3 record against the Pirates, following a 1-0 win at Jack Coffey Field in the 2010 season opener. However, the Rams are 1-3 against Seton Hall away from home, including a 1-2 mark at Carroll Field.

TEAM CAPTAINS: Seniors Michaela Murphy and Mariella Romano have been voted as the team captains by the coaches and players for the 2011 season.

ATLANTIC 10 PRESEASON RANKINGS (8/11): The Atlantic 10 Conference announced coaches' predictions and the preseason All-Conference teams for women's soccer this afternoon with Fordham selected to finish sixth in the 14-team league.

Dayton, Charlotte, and Richmond were picked as the top three teams in the league, followed by La Salle in fourth, St. Bonaventure in fifth, and Fordham is sixth. The rest of the league in descending order is Massachusetts (7th), Duquesne (8th), Saint Louis (9th), George Washington (10th), Rhode Island (11th), Saint Joseph's (12th), Xavier (13th), and Temple (14th).

PRESEASON ACCOLADES FOR FRESHMAN CANICATTI (8/11): In addition to the preseason rankings, the coaches also voted on the preseason All-Conference and All-Rookie teams with Fordham freshman Maria Lorena Canicatti listed among the top newcomers in the league.

Canicatti was a Regional ODP player and a National Pool player since 2007, and attended the National Team training camp in Pomona, California in 2007. Her talent has kept her on the ENY State ODP team since 2005 and her club team, the Syosset Sting, have been State Cup Champions every year since 2008. Along with fellow incoming freshman Jessica Widmann, Canicatti helped her club make it to the finals of the 2010 US Youth Soccer U-17 National Championships.

In 2009, Canicatti was invited to the adidas Elite Soccer Program in Pomona, California, and, in 2010, she was one of four players from New York asked to play for the Region 1 team at the US Youth Soccer ODP girls Thanksgiving Inter-regionals in Florida.