Women's Soccer: Bethany selected eighth in PAC Preseason Poll

BETHANY, W.Va. – After coming off their best season since 1999, the Bethany College women's soccer team was voted to finished eighth in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), according to the league's annual coaches poll.

This year's poll, voted on by the conference's 11 head coaches, was revealed Wednesday, along with the PAC's Players to Watch List.

Westminster claimed eight first-place votes and 97 total points to earn the top spot in the preseason poll.

Grove City College had one first-place vote and accumulated 87 points to come in second in the preseason poll. Franciscan also picked up one first-place vote and tallied 78 points to rank third, just ahead of Chatham. The Cougars ranked fourth with 77 points.

Washington & Jefferson College registered 58 points to finish fifth, while Saint Vincent College, who had the final first-place vote, came in sixth with 50 points. They were followed by Allegheny College in seventh (46). Eighth place was a tie between Bethany College and Waynesburg University (40), and Geneva College placed 10th (22) and Thiel College 11th (10).

Bethany finished the 2022 campaign 10-6-3, including a 4-5-1 conference record. The Bison earned their first PAC Tournament appearance since 2004. Their season started out strong, going undefeated in non-conference play and they began the season with a 5-0-2 record before competing against PAC opponents.

The Green and White set the record with 55 goals, which was held by the 1992 team with 49, and holds the highest win percentage at (.605) since the 1987 season (.583).

Headlining the Bison on the PAC Players to Watch list are sophomores Jada Benjamin (Potters Village, St. John's, Antigua/Clare Hall Secondary) and Monica Bird Montilla (McKinnon, Antigua/St. Anthony's Secondary) and junior Ava Lee (Huntington, W.Va./St. Joseph).

All-PAC honorees, Bird Montilla and Benjamin both were leaders in scoring and combined for 48 points (17 goals) for the Green and White. Bird Montilla scored three game- winning goals while Benjamin scored one.

Lee returns as the anchor of the Bison defense.

Led by fifth-year Head Coach Alyssa Finelli, the Bison open the 2023 campaign at Highmark Stadium in Pittsburgh against Carlow on Sept. 1 at 5 pm.