Alva Review-Courier -

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – SWOSU Soccer has been picked to finish second in the Great American Conference in 2019 following a polling of the seven head coaches in the league. The preseason poll was announced on Tuesday afternoon by the conference office.

The preseason projection matches where the Bulldogs finished last season after ending with a record of 13-5-1, which included a 10-2 mark in GAC play. The only conference team to defeat SWOSU was Oklahoma Baptist, who is the preseason pick to again win the league with five first-place votes and 34 total points. The Bulldogs picked up one first-place vote and 27 total points, two ahead of Ouachita in third and three ahead of Harding in fourth.

Head Coach Mark Persson, now in his 11th season at SWOSU, brings a youthful team into the 2019 season with a roster featuring 21 underclassmen out of 28 total players. The top returner for the Bulldogs is forward Sandra Nabweteme, a two-time All-American who ranked second on the team with 21 goals and 57 total points last season. Persson and SWOSU must replace their other eight all-conference performers from 2018, which ended with an overtime loss to OBU in the GAC Championship match.

SWOSU Soccer opens the 2019 season with a stiff test at Central Missouri on September 5th in Warrensburg, Mo., the first of three straight road games to open the season. The first home match comes on September 17th against Midwestern State, which is the lone non-conference home game on the schedule.

2019 GAC Women's Soccer Preseason Coaches Poll

# Team (First Place Votes) Points

1 Oklahoma Baptist (5) 34

2 SWOSU (1) 27

3 Ouachita 25

4 Harding 24

5 Southern Nazarene (1) 17

6 East Central 11

7 Northwestern Okla. 9