• Official MEC Press Release

BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. – The Mountain East Conference (MEC) league offices released its annual women's soccer preseason poll on Friday afternoon. The West Virginia State University women's soccer team was picked to finish third in the MEC South Division after a vote by the conference's coaches.

Head Coach Lisa Mann returns for her fourth season in charge of the program that she started back in 2019. She led the Yellow Jackets to their first-ever postseason appearance last fall with an 11-7-1 overall record and 10-5-1 conference record. The feat was made more remarkable by the fact that 2021 was the first complete season that West Virginia State competed in as full members of the MEC and NCAA Division II. 

WVSU returns 10-of-11 starters from a year ago including All-MEC honorees Brooklyn Pritt, Fran Soares-Cupertino, and Naomi Waithira. Forward Fran Soares-Cupertino also received All-Atlantic Region honors last season to become the first player in program history to receive such an honor. Her 13 goals scored in 2021, including four game-winners, was the second-highest tally in the MEC and 14th highest in NCAA DII.

Winger Brooklyn Pritt comes back for her fourth season with the Yellow Jackets as the program's leader in assists with seven. She's also capable of netting an occasional goal with four through two official seasons, including the truncated six-game season of 2020.

Midfielder Naomi Waithira heads into her senior campaign with the ability to provide both goals and assists in a fair share. She is second in both goals, behind Soares-Cupertino, and assists, behind Pritt, on the list of career leaders at West Virginia State. Waithira has scored six goals and added five assists to date from her midfield position.

Aside from bringing back all starters bar one from the previous year, the Yellow Jackets added substantial depth to their roster in the offseason. Twelve international players joined the team from Australia, Brazil, Colombia, England, Germany, Kenya, Mexico, and Spain to compete for starting positions and rotate into the lineup. Injuries, brought on by a lack of recovery time, plagued WVSU as the 2021 season progressed so the influx of depth to the squad should make a considerable difference in the 2022 campaign.

The Yellow Jackets were picked where they finished last season in the 2022 MEC Preseason Poll. West Virginia State received 45 points and one first-place vote to be slotted third in the South Division. Concord was picked first in the division with 64 points and nine first-place votes as the reigning conference champions. Charleston was slotted second with 57 points and two first-place votes. WVSU beat UC, 1-0, and drew with CU, 2-2, in back-to-back road games early last year.

West Virginia Wesleyan (32 points) and Davis & Elkins (31 points) were separated by a single point in the voting for the fourth and fifth spots, respectively, in the South Division preseason rankings. Glenville State trailed the pack with 17 points in sixth place.

In the North, Frostburg State was the clear frontrunner with 64 points and nine first-place votes. Fairmont State and Notre Dame College tied for second with 52 points apiece. Fairmont received two first-place votes while NDC received one. 

The northern panhandle teams of West Liberty and Wheeling were slated fourth and fifth, respectively, in the division. The Hilltoppers secured 35 points while the Cardinals collected 27 points. Alderson Broaddus was firmly seated in sixth place with only 16 points.

West Virginia State's first official contest of the 2022 season will be a tough test against the University of Indianapolis. The Greyhounds advanced to the second round of the NCAA DII Championship last season and finished with an 11-4-3 overall record. The season-opening home match for WVSU will take place on Sunday, Aug. 28 at noon.