Wildcats Look to Extend Title Streak To Five, Picked as 2024 Favorites in Preseason Poll
WINTHROP, Mass. – Johnson & Wales looks to claim their fifth Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament Championship in a row heading into the 2024 season.
The Wildcats earned 255 points, including 15 first place votes, in this year's preseason poll which was conducted by the league's 16 Women's Soccer head coaches this past week.
Last year, JWU finished the regular season undefeated in conference play at 15-0 (18-3-3 overall), claiming the No. 1 seed in the GNAC Championship Tournament. The Wildcats defeated Elms in the Quarterfinals, Colby-Sawyer in the Semifinals, and Emmanuel in the Conference title game. JWU's season came to an end in the NCAA Tournament last year at the hands of TCNJ in the First Round of the 2023 DIII Women's Soccer Tournament.
Last year's tournament runner-up Emmanuel placed second in the poll with 226 followed by Lasell at No. 3 with 210 points. Colby-Sawyer (198 points) and Regis (189) rounded out the top five.
Rivier (188) received a first-place vote while the University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) and Saint Joseph's (Maine) finished the top half of the poll with 170 and 141 points, respectively.
Rounding out the other half in the poll in order were Elms (120), Albertus Magnus (119), Norwich (91), Simmons (74), Dean (66), New England College (65), Mitchell (35), and Anna Maria (29).
The 2024 GNAC Women’s Soccer season kicks off on Friday, Aug. 30 with teams opening their non-conference slates. The first league play date is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 4. Teams will complete a 15-game single round robin conference season with the top-10 teams at the end of the regular season earning berths into the 2024 GNAC Women’s Soccer Championship Tournament. The postseason starts with a Play-In Round featuring the bottom four tournament seeds on Thursday, Oct. 31. The winners of those games will advance to the GNAC Quarterfinals on Saturday, Nov. 2 with the winners moving on to the semifinals on Tuesday, Nov. 5. The tournament will conclude with the GNAC Championship match on Saturday, Nov. 9 with winner claiming the title of GNAC Champion and earning the league’s automatic qualifier into the 2024 NCAA Division III Women’s Soccer Championship.
2024 GNAC Women's Soccer Preseason Poll
|
1. |
Johnson & Wales |
255 (15) |
|
2. |
Emmanuel |
226 |
|
3. |
Lasell |
210 |
|
4. |
Colby-Sawyer |
198 |
|
5. |
Regis |
189 |
|
6. |
Rivier |
188 (1) |
|
7. |
University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) |
170 |
|
8. |
Saint Joseph's (Maine) |
141 |
|
9. |
Elms |
120 |
|
10. |
Albertus Magnus |
119 |
|
11. |
Norwich |
91 |
|
12. |
Simmons |
74 |
|
13. |
Dean |
66 |
|
14. |
New England College |
65 |
|
15. |
Mitchell |
35 |
|
16. |
Anna Maria |
29 |
ABOUT THE GREAT NORTHEAST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 16 member institutions and over 4000 student-athletes across the New England region. Founded in 1995, the GNAC annually sponsors and administers 22 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunity and community involvement in an effort to enhance the student-athlete experience.
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