As the NCAC begins non-conference play, it does so with a heavy heart. Long time DePauw University Women's Coach John Carter passed away unexpectedly yesterday. In his 24 years coaching the Tigers, John's teams went 255-156-24, with six conference championships (3 in the Indiana Collegiate Athletic Conference) and three in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. His teams made it to the NCAA tournament 7 times, with the 2003 team advancing to the NCAA semi-finals before losing to the University of Chicago in OT. John left DePauw in 2014 to run Indiana's ODP program full time, where he developed countless coaches and players.
May his memory be eternal.
The preseason rankings in the NCAC are out:
2017 North Coast Athletic Conference Women's Soccer Preseason Coaches' Poll
(first-place votes in parentheses, followed by total points)
1. Denison (7) 79
2. DePauw 66
3. Wittenberg (1) 62
4. Kenyon 56
5. Wooster (1) 46
6. Allegheny 34
Ohio Wesleyan 34
8. Oberlin 17
9. Hiram 11
Play begins this weekend, with games all three days.
Fri. 1 Loras vs. Denison (at Wheaton)
Allegheny @ Rochester Inst.
Capital @ Kenyon
Wittenberg @ Centre
Pitt.-Bradford @ Oberlin
Thiel @ Hiram
Wash. Univ. @ DePauw
Earlham @ Ohio Wesleyan
Bridgewater (Va.) vs. Wooster (at Pittsburgh, Pa.)
Sat. 2 Whitworth vs. Denison (at Wheaton College)
Allegheny @ Nazareth
Wooster @ Frostburg St. (at Pittsburgh, Pa.)
Wittenberg vs. Berry (at Danville, KY)
Sun. 3 Ohio Wesleyan @ Wash. & Jeff.
Bluffton @ Oberlin
Ill. Wesleyan @ Kenyon
Westminster @ Hiram
Some interesting matchups, with the marquee match on Friday, when #1 Wash U. travels to DePauw. Other interesting matchups include Wittenberg vs. Centre, both of Denison's matches (vs. Loras and Whitworth) and Illinois Wesleyan visiting Kenyon.