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Health & Fitness

Women's Soccer Picked to Win America East in League Coaches Poll

AMERICA EAST RELEASE

West Hartford, Conn. – 
The University of Hartford women's soccer team was picked to finish first overall according to a poll of conference head coaches on Wednesday. The Hawks, who finished second last year will open the 2013 season on Friday, August 23 when they welcome the Bryant Bulldogs to Al-Marzook Field at Alumni Stadium on the West Hartford campus.

The Hawks edged out reigning America East tournament champion Stony Brook by just two points receiving five first-place votes and 61 points compared to four first-place votes and 59 points for the Seawolves. The voting was conducted by the conference's nine head coaches, who were not permitted to vote for their own teams.

 University of Maine came in third with 49 points, following by Vermont in fourth with 38 points and New Hampshire in fifth with 35 points. Albany edged out Binghamton in sixth by only one points, receiving 29 and 28 points respectively. UMBC (15) and UMass Lowell (8) rounded out the nine-team league. UMass Lowell will compete in the America East and at the Division I level for the first time in 2013.

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Following an eight-game conference schedule the top six teams will advance to the America East Championship which begins with quarterfinal action on October 31 and continues with the semifinal round on November 3. The conference champion will be crowned on either November 9 or 10 with the winner of the tournament receiving an automatic bid to the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship.

The Hawks are coming off an 11-5-3 mark last season, including a 6-2-0 record in conference play before falling to Stony Brook, 1-0, in the America East title game. Head coach John Natale and his staff, the back-to-back America East Coaching Staff of the Year, will need to replace eight seniors including the 2012 America East Striker of the Year Amelia Pereira and two-time Goalkeeper of the Year Erin Quinlan. Pereira scored 13 goals and tallied 33 points to lead the conference last season and was named an NSCAA All-American. Quinlan allowed just 21 goals in 37 career games as a Hawk, recording 21 shutouts.

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Sophomore forward Elise Galipo is the team's top returning offensive threat, totaling four goals and three assists last season. She is joined by senior returners Arielle Aikens and Raelynn Mikell, who will serve as team captains, while the Hawks welcome 13 new faces. 

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