Hanover Named Favorite for 2010 Women’s Soccer Title

GREENWOOD, IN – Hanover College has been selected to pace the highly competitive Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference in women’s soccer this season. The Panthers received 89 total points in a poll of the conference’s ten head coaches, grabbing five first place votes.  Transylvania University narrowly finished behind the Panthers with 87 points and two first place votes.

Earlham College placed third in the poll with 78 total points and three first place votes, while Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology finished fourth with 70 points.  The College of Mount St. Joseph received 69 points and finished fifth, while Manchester College (49 points), Anderson University (31), Defiance College (29), Bluffton University (28), and Franklin College (20) rounded out the poll.

Hanover finished 2009 with a 7-1-0 conference record and a 13-5-1 mark overall, sharing the conference title with Rose-Hulman.  The Panthers fell to Transylvania 2-0 in the HCAC tournament championship.  Hanover fielded the conference’s best offense and defense last fall, scoring 46 goals and allowing only 12 goals all season.

The 2010 version of the Panthers return five players that earned First-Team All-HCAC honors last fall, including the conference’s Freshman of the Year.  Sophomore forward Christa Hurak (Lexington, Ky./Catholic) returns after leading the squad in scoring a year ago.  Hurak totaled 21 points on the season after scoring eight goals and contributing five assists.  Sophomore defender Kaitlin McCulloch (Florence, Ky./Boone Co.) anchored the Hanover defense last season, earning the Freshman of the Year award.  The Panthers allowed 12 goals all season and posted 11 shutouts in 19 games played.

Transylvania finished third with a 6-2-0 conference record last season and finished 13-7-1 overall.  The Pioneers defeated Hanover 2-0 to win the HCAC Tournament title before falling in the first round of the NCAA Division III tournament to Denison 2-0.  Senior forward Kristin Tenhundfeld (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota West) returns to lead the offense after earning Second-Team All-HCAC honors last fall.  The senior led the Pioneers with eight goals and 16 points last season. Senior goalkeeper Cori Hickman (Newark, Ohio/H.S.) returns in net for Transy after being named First-Team All-HCAC last season.  Hickman allowed a league-best eight goals and posted seven shutouts in 16 games played last fall.

Earlham College will look to make noise in the Heartland in their first year as a conference member.  The Quakers finished the 2009 campaign 12-7-1 overall and 4-3-1 in the North Coast Athletic Conference, falling to Wittenberg 2-1 in the NCAC Tournament title.  Sophomore forward Joy Doucette (Berwyn Heights, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) returns after leading the team in scoring as a freshman, netting seven goals and five assists for the Quakers.  Senior goalkeeper Megan Holthaus (Harrison, Ohio/McAuley) returns in net for EC after allowing 18 goals and posting 70 saves in 18 starts last fall.                                     

The 2010 women’s soccer season is scheduled to open on September 1.

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