CCC RELEASE

BEVERLY, Mass. – In a vote by the Commonwealth Coast Conference's nine head coaches, Suffolk women's soccer team has been projected to place eighth in the preseason coaches' poll, released Wednesday by the league office.  

With 22 points, the Rams finished eighth, ahead of Nichols, who rounded out the nine-team poll with 15 points. 

Western New England earned six of the possible nine first place picks to be crowned the preseason favorite as the Golden Bears' 74 points edged out Endicott and Roger Williams as the Gulls and Hawks shared second with 65 points apiece. The former locked up two first place nods, while the latter received one first place vote.  

The University of New England (59), Gordon (48), Curry (32) and Wentworth (25) claimed spots four through seven in that order. 

The Rams roster, although young with 14 underclassmen including eight true freshmen, features 22 veterans including senior captain Klaudia Rushi, who led Suffolk's scoring a year ago with six goals and one assist. Sophomore Sophia Barker, meanwhile, is set to return to her spot in between the goal post after assembling a 1.52 goals against average and .800 save percentage in her first collegiate campaign in 2022. 

Anchored by Rushi and every day defensive starters senior Alicia Bibi and junior Grace Owens, second-year head coach Ellie McDougall looks to push her team to the CCC Tournament for the first time under her guidance and first since 2021 after going 1-6-2 against conference counterparts a year ago and 4-9-3 overall. 

Suffolk's 17th season is scheduled to start this Friday, Sept. 1 when it hosts Elms in a 4 p.m. outing at James A. Sartori at East Boston Memorial Park. 

2023 CCC Women's Soccer Preseason Coaches' Poll