Auburn Soccer Picked To Finish Second In The SEC West - AuburnTigers.com

Auburn Soccer Picked To Finish Second In The SEC West Tigers return nine starters off of last season's team

Aug. 14, 2008

AUBURN, Ala. -

The Auburn soccer team was picked to finish second in the SEC’s Western Division behind 2007 West Champion LSU in vote of the league’s 12 head coaches, it was announced on Thursday.

Auburn returns 17 letter winners and nine starters off of the 2007 squad, which finished 10-8-2 (6-5-0 SEC) and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season. Included in the group of returning starters is preseason All-SEC forward Caitlin King and all-America candidate Allison Whitworth in goal.

Auburn received five first-place votes in the West while LSU garnered the other seven, giving LSU 62 points compared to Auburn’s 59. Points were compiled on a 6-5-4-3-2-1 basis for each division, though each coach was not allowed to vote for their won team. Each coach also voted for one team as an overall conference champion, with Florida earning the most votes (seven), Tennessee picking up three votes and Georgia two.

Auburn will play its first game of the 2008 season on Friday, Aug. 22, at the Auburn Soccer Complex when it plays host to Grambling at 7pm CT. Admission is free.

Preseason Coaches’ Poll
(First place votes in parentheses)

SEC Champion: Florida (7); Tennessee (3); Georgia (2)

Western Division
                     Poll    ‘07 SEC    Pts     ‘07 Overall    Pct.
LSU (7)            62     5-2-4        19      12-5-7           .646
Auburn (5)       59     6-5-0         18     10-8-2           .550
Ole Miss          45     4-4-3         15       7-8-5           .475
Alabama         30     2-8-1           7       9-10-1         .475
Arkansas          30     1-9-1           4       8-11-1         .425
Miss. State      20     2-8-1           7       6-12-1         .342

Eastern Division
                     Poll    ‘07 SEC    Pts     ‘07 Overall    Pct.
Florida (7)       59     9-2-0         27      17-5-3           .740
Tennessee (3) 55     8-2-1         25      15-5-2           .727
Georgia (2)     52     8-1-2         26       18-4-2          .792
So. Carolina   37     5-4-2         17       14-6-3          .674
Vanderbilt      23     3-6-2         11         6-10-3        .395
Kentucky        20     4-6-1         13        10-7-3         .575