Photo Courtesy of QU Athletics

By Alex Cosgrove

On Tuesday morning, the MAAC released their annual preseason coach’s poll for women’s soccer. In this year’s poll, the Quinnipiac Bobcats were ranked seventh in the conference. Defending champion Monmouth came in first, with Fairfield ranking second in the poll.

Commenting on the ranking, coach Dave Clarke said, “It would have been nice to have been picked to finish higher, but I don’t lose sleep over such predictions.  It is up to me and the players to prove the poll wrong and that is what we will be striving to do.”

Courtesy of MAACSports.com

Even though the Bobcats finished seventh with a record of 3-3-4 in conference play last year, their potential could see them finish higher in the standings this season.

So why did the league place the Bobcats so low in the rankings?

One reason could simply be where they placed last year. It may also be because of the losses they sustained from players leaving due to graduation. It’s easy to see a cloud of doubt surrounding the capabilities of this team’s ability to score, after losing two seniors and key contributors to their offense from last year in Aine McKeever and Beck Kiting, who both scored five out of the teams 11 total goals. However, this is a defensive team that has found success from their ability to prevent opponents from easing their way into the box.  Only one team in the MAAC shutout the undefeated conference champions Monmouth. That one team was Quinnipiac. The Bobcats didn’t score either in that game, but that’s beside the point. This team is built around its defense, which, with a majority of the backfield returning older and stronger, could spell doom for opposing offenses.

The opportunities to score for the Bobcats will heavily rely on the transition from defense to offense. However, this is the area that has troubled head coach Dave Clarke’s squad. If the midfielders can push the ball forward quickly and efficiently, the speed of their forwards can deliver pressure to opposing defenses and gain some offensive momentum and allow the strong legs to move up and create scoring chances.

Ranking the Quinnipiac Bobcats seventh was most likely an easy choice for the league office and a safe option considering this teams stats from last year. Nonetheless, no team is the same year to year.  But, this is a new year for the Bobcats and like any new season comes an opportunity to move in a new direction, it’ll be up to them to determine where they place in 2014.

The Bobcats begin their season on Aug. 22 at Maine.

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