Cobras Picked Tenth in SAC Preseason Poll

HARTSVILLE, S.C. – Preseason practice is in full swing and the Coker College women's soccer team, led by first-year coach Debbie McGuinness, is eager to get things going as they head into the third year of South Atlantic Conference play.

"One of our goals is to go out and put a good product on the field and be sure we are competing to the best of our abilities," said McGuinness.

McGuinness comes to Coker after spending eight years on the Lindsey Wilson College women's soccer coaching staff. Postseason play is something she is quite familiar with as she helped guide the Blue Raiders to NAIA national championships in 2012 and 2014, seven regular season conference titles and seven tournament titles.

"We are just concentrating on the here and now and making sure we are focused on the business at hand and right now, that is our scrimmage on Wednesday (Aug. 26)," said McGuinness.

The Navy and Yellow finished 3-3 in their last six games in 2014 and scored wins over SAC foes Lincoln Memorial and Carson-Newman on the road, and Mars Hill at home. The wins and steady play down the stretch landed them in the No. 10 slot in the SAC preseason poll. Lenoir-Rhyne was tabbed as the favorite, with Wingate coming in as the runner-up.

"The South Atlantic Conference is very competitive, and all of our games both in an out of conference will be tough," said McGuinness. "We certainly respect our opponent whoever they may be, but we do not fear them."

The 2015 roster is one that presents a wealth of experience with six seniors returning. In all, 16 players are returning from last year's team to go along with three newcomers to make up the 19-person roster.

"This group of young women is so willing to listen to new ideas, philosophes and values and it's great to have that on the field, said McGuinness."

Headlining the roster will be the trio of Jordan Roy, Jenna Pacyna and Renee Ledesma. Roy and Pacyna finished last season with three goals apiece while Ledesma netted two goals. However, coach McGuinness was quick to turn the focus on the group effort necessary for this team to be successful.

"We have several options which is nice, so we aren't going to look to attack through just a couple of players," said McGuinness. "We expect everyone to step up as a group and work as one unit."

But the coaching staff and the roster of 19 ladies know that it takes more than just goal scoring to win games, it takes execution on both sides of the ball and the ability to work well together to be successful.

"We need to be solid from a defensive standpoint, we can't give up the easy goals, said McGuinness. "We have a great group of ladies that really appreciate each other, that have each other's back and I think we can do some great things and surprise some people."

The Cobras open up their season Thursday, Sept. 3 on the road at 7:00 p.m. against Limestone College.