RICHMOND, Ind. — Three was a popular number for the
Earlham College women’s soccer team on Tuesday as the Quakers were picked third by the coaches in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference preseason poll.
Earlham also received three first place votes in the poll, while having three among the Players to Watch. Seniors
Karman Duchon and
Megan Holthaus along with sophomore
Joy Doucette were on the list as the Quakers were involved in the HCAC poll for the first time since officially joining the league this summer.
Duchon was Earlham’s Most Valuable Offensive Player in 2009, after finishing the season as team’s second-leading scorer with five goals and six assists. She is Earlham’s all-time leader with 37 goals, 26 assists and 100 points.
Holthaus, who was an All-North Coast Athletic Conference Honorable Mention selection for the second year in a row, held opponents to 0.98 goals per match and posted five shutouts. She was also Earlham’s Most Valuable Defensive Player.
Doucette was named NCAC Newcomer of the Year, after leading the Quakers in scoring with 19 points. She finished with seven goals and four assists and made the All-NCAC Second Team, while scoring the game-winning goal in a 1-0 victory over
Denison University in the semifinals of the conference tournament.
Last year’s regular season HCAC co-champ,
Hanover College, picked up five first place votes to get the top spot in the poll.
Transylvania University, the 2009 HCAC Tournament winner was second followed by the Quakers.
The Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, which tied with
Hanover in the regular season last fall, was fourth.
Earlham ended last fall at 12-7-1 overall and earned the No. 4 seed in the NCAC Tournament with a 4-3-1 record. The Quakers eventually fell 2-1 to
Wittenberg University in the championship match.
The Quakers defeated three HCAC teams in 2009. Earlham won 5-0 over
Anderson University, while posting 2-0 victories over Rose-Hulman and
Franklin College.
Earlham opens the season at home against
Thomas More College on Wednesday, Sept. 1. The initial HCAC contest is versus
Anderson in
Richmond on Saturday, Oct. 2.
HCAC Release