Women's Soccer Tops NE10 Preseason Poll for Third Straight Year

The Northeast-10 Conference's head coaches have helped the Adelphi University women's soccer team score a hat trick ahead of the 2018 season. The Panthers were picked to finish on top for the third year in a row in the NE10 preseason poll, released by the league office on Thursday.

Adelphi garnered 185 points and six first-place votes from the conference head coaches ahead of the upcoming season. The Brown and Gold finished the 2017 slate as regular season champions with a league record of 13-1 heading into postseason play. The Panthers have won the regular season crown in each of Brooke DeRosa's first three years at the helm of the team, winning the conference tournament in 2015.

Southern New Hampshire, which won the league's tournament crown last year, claimed the second slot in the preseason poll, tallying 180 points, as well as six first place votes. Franklin Pierce checked in at third with 166 points and one first-place nod, while Saint Rose and Assumption rounded out the top five with 158 and 141 points, each garnering one first-place vote each.

Slots six through nine in this year's poll began with Pace at the No. 6 spot with 130 points, followed by American Int'l (104), Merrimack (103), and Stonehill (88), with Le Moyne locking in 10th tenth slot with 82 points. Both Adelphi and SNHU are ranked nationally to begin the 2018 campaign. The Panthers are #15 in the United Soccer Coaches' poll, while the Penmen check in at #24.

The 2018 women's soccer season begins on Friday, Aug. 31 in a non-conference matchup at Wilmington University in Delaware. The Panthers will kick-off at 4 p.m.