Marian University women’s soccer received 299 total points to finish fourth in the NACC preseason poll, as voted on by the head coaches and athletic communication professionals of the conference.

Illinois Tech has been chosen as the favorite to repeat after going undefeated in conference play a season ago.  The Scarlet Hawks earned 21 first-place votes for a total of 379 points.  MSOE won the conference tournament last year and received six first-place votes and 369 points to finish second.  Dominican was in a close third with 337 points and the final first-place pick.

Marian finished just one point shy of 300 points with 299 to finish fourth, it’s the highest finish in the preseason poll for the Sabres since 2013.  St. Norbert wasn’t far behind Marian at 272.  Aurora and Concordia Wisconsin finished closely for sixth and seventh with 239 and 226 points respectively, with Edgewood being the final institution with more than 200 points at 218.

Benedictine, Concordia Chicago, and Wisconsin Lutheran all finished with more than 100 points at 155, 140, and 128, respectively.  Lakeland earned 86 followed by Rockford with 64.  Alverno rounded out the poll with 28.

The top eight teams at the end of the regular season will once again earn a spot in the conference tournament with the tournament champion earning an automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Tournament.

The full release from the NACC can be found at https://naccsports.org/.

Marian opens the season Friday, August 30 taking on Carthage at 4 p.m. from Smith Field.