By: Joshua Schroeder, NACC Assistant Commissioner
MILWAUKEE, Wis. (naccsports.org) --- Dominican University has been tapped as the favorite to capture the 2022 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) women's soccer title.
The Stars received 372 points and 11 of a possible 28 first-place votes in the poll, which consists of rankings by each of the league's head coaches and head athletics communications professionals. Milwaukee School of Engineering edged Concordia University Wisconsin for second place, 353-350, with each program picking up seven first-place votes, while Illinois Institute of Technology ranked fourth with 320 points and the final three first-place votes.
St. Norbert College sits fifth with 278 points, matching that program's finish in its inaugural NACC campaign, while Marian University (229) edged both Aurora University (221) and Benedictine University (218) out for sixth. Concordia Univeristy Chicago (159), Edgewood College (144), Wisconsin Lutheran College (121), Lakeland University (78), Rockford University (68), and Alverno College (29) round out this year's poll.
2021 Recap: Last fall, Concordia Wisconsin, Dominican, and MSOE each went 12-1-0 in league play to claim a share of the NACC title. Concordia Wisconsin and MSOE were the top two seeds in the NACC Tournament but were both sidelined in the semifinal round. Third-seeded Dominican edged fourth-seeded Illinois Tech, 2-1, in the final to win the NACC Tournament crown and advance to the NCAA Championship. The Stars defeated Hanover in the first round before falling to Washington-St. Louis.
New Coaches: There will be five new head coaches on NACC women's soccer sidelines this fall.
David Sheridan takes over at Alverno with over a decade's worth of postgraduate coaching experience, most recently as head coach at Austin College from 2016-19. He also has NCAA Division III experience at Notre Dame of Maryland and Manchester (Ind.).
Eddie Garza is the new head coach at Concordia Chicago, arriving in River Forest after five season on the women's staff at NCAA Division I Northern Illinois. Heather Robare, a 2004 Lakeland graduate, returns to lead her alma mater. She has significant experience at the high school and club levels, including the last 13 years with Lakeshore United FC in Sheboygan. She also coached at Sheboygan South and Sheboygan Lutheran high schools.
Chris Gaskin has been named the head coach at Marian. He spent the last three seasons as the head women's coach at Iowa Wesleyan University. Prior to that he was head coach at Green Mountain College in Vermont and was an assistant at Saint Mary's University in Minnesota. After two years as head men's coach at Rockford, Mike Chwistek was named Director of Soccer Operations and now serves as head coach of both the men's and women's programs. Chwistek also has collegiate experience with the men's programs at Dominican and Judson.
2022 Schedule: The 2022 NACC schedule gets underway Thursday, Sept. 1 with 13 nonconference games as all but Alverno takes to the pitch. The Inferno will follow the following day (Friday, Sept. 2) with a match at SUNY Maritime. The league slate begins with seven matches on Wednesday, Sept. 14 as Concordia Chicago travels to Benedictine, Illinois Tech hosts Dominican, Wisconsin Lutheran is at Marian, Lakeland makes the short trip to St. Norbert, Edgewood entertains, MSOE, Aurora visits Concordia Wisconsin, and Rockford faces Alverno.
NACC Tournament: The top six teams in the final regular-season standings qualify for the league's postseason tournament. First-round games are slated for Saturday, Oct. 29, followed by semifinals on Tuesday, Nov. 1, and the tournament final on Saturday, Nov. 5. The tournament champion receives the NACC's automatic berth into the 2022 NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Championship.
2022 NACC Women's Soccer Preseason Poll
| Institution |
Points |
| Dominican (11) |
372 |
| MSOE (7) |
353 |
| CUW (7) |
350 |
| Illinois Tech (3) |
320 |
| St. Norbert |
278 |
| Marian |
229 |
| Aurora |
221 |
| Benedictine |
218 |
| CUC |
159 |
| Edgewood |
144 |
| WLC |
121 |
| Lakeland |
78 |
| Rockford |
68 |
| Alverno |
29 |
Note: First-place votes in parentheses.