Concord Favored in MEC South Division Poll

BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. – The Concord University women's soccer team has been selected to win the Mountain East Conference South Division according to the preseason coaches' poll that was released Thursday afternoon.

THE POLL

Place	Team	Points (First-Place Votes)
1.	Concord	48 (11)
2.	Charleston	30 (1)
3.	West Virginia State	21
4.	Glenville State	17

2019 REVIEW
Concord captured its first MEC Championship in program history in 2019, and it was the first conference title for the Mountain Lions since 2002. CU finished the season with a mark of 19-2 as it lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament—the first national postseason bid for the program. Before losing in the NCAA Tournament, the Mountain Lions won 13 straight games with 12 coming by at least two goals.

2021 SCHEDULE
CU plays home-and-way against the other three teams in its division—Charleston, Glenville State and West Virginia State. The shortened eight-game 2021 season is capped by games at Davis & Elkins (March 21) and home to Wheeling (March 26). Concord starts the season at West Virginia State February 26 followed the home opener with Charleston March 5. A second-straight home game awaits against Glenville State March 12. After the Wheeling contest, CU travels to Charleston April 2. The final home game of the season is against West Virginia State April 9. The regular season wraps up April 16 at Glenville State.

THE RETURNERS
Of the MEC-record 70 goals scored by Concord in 2019, the Mountain Lions have 47 of those goals accounted for in the returners. 2019 Second Team All-American and MEC Offensive Player of the Year junior forward Leah Foster scored 16 goals and added another 12 assists. 2019 MEC Freshman of the Year Rachel Bell led the team with 17 goals. Senior midfielder Yasmin Mosby had seven goals, including the game-winning score in the MEC Championship. Sophomore defender Zoe Belding had three goals and four assists. Sophomore midfielder Michelle Brogden tied Foster for the team high in assists while senior midfielder Elisha Robinson had two goals.

Defensively, senior defense Alyssa Mahar was a second team all-region selection in 2019 as she started all 21 games and collected eight assists. Mahar and junior defender Leigh Wightman helped Concord post 13 shutouts last season. Junior goalkeeper Leah Marsh takes over in net for the Mountain Lions full time. A season ago, Marsh appeared in seven games with six wins and a goals-against average of 0.16. Marsh tallied 10 saves in 553 minutes in goal.

THE NEWCOMERS
Reigning MEC Coach of the Year Luke Duffy welcomes a total of 22 new players—four transfers and 18 freshmen to this year's squad. The transfers are junior midfielder Jennika Appleberg (Vantaa, Finland/Northeast Texas CC), junior midfielder Amanda Banfield (Silver Spring, Md./Silver Spring/Seton Hill), sophomore midfielder Ellie Hawcroft (Barnsley, England/Barnsley/Austin Peay) and sophomore midfielder Courtney Smith (Fayetteville, W.Va./Oak Hill/WVU).

The first-year players are forward Leeta Adkins (Chapmanville, W.Va./Chapmanville), midfielder Olivia Bekeleski (Mansfield, Ohio/Mansfield Christian), forward Regan Carpenter (Ripley, W.Va./Ripley), midfielder India Chahar (Princeton, W.Va./Princeton), defender Sophie Clutter (Inwood, W.Va./Hedgesville), midfielder Lauren Delong (Bright, Ind./East Central), defender Svea Eckstrand (Mebane, N.C./Burlington Christian), defender Hayleah Fletcher (Louisa, Ky./Lawrence County), defender Mackenzie Greer (Huntington, W.Va./Huntington), midfielder Katie Hackney (Rosedale, Va./Lebanon), defender Kelly Hanson (Lewisburg, W.Va./Greenbrier East), forward Alexis Hudson (Charles Town, W.Va./Washington), forward Chelsea Khoury (Lorton, Va./South County), goalkeeper  Maddie McKee (Chesapeake, Ohio/Chesapeake), defender Taylor Perry (Hico, W.Va./Midland Trail), forward Zoe Parson (Greensbor, N.C./Southeast Guilford), forward Emma Shreve (Romney, W.Va./Hampshire) and defender Megan Tanner (Clendenin, W.Va./Herbert Hoover).