BAY CITY, Mich. - The head women's soccer coaches of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) have chosen the Saginaw Valley State University Cardinals to finish fourth in the North Division for the upcoming 2011 season in preseason balloting. The Cardinals received 14 total votes and finished two votes away from third place pick Ferris State University. Saginaw Valley was also out voted by Northern Michigan University, who was picked to finish second, and Grand Valley State University, who was picked to finish first.
SVSU finished the 2010-11 season with a record of 9-8-1 overall and 8-6-1 in the league standings, but will rely on leadership from upperclassmen for success in the new campaign. The Cardinals return valuable experience from last season in junior Megan Morad (South Lyon, Mich./South Lyon HS) who was the Cardinals' most consistent defender in 2010. In addition, the Cardinals also will feature leading goalscorer senior mid-fielder Sam Echols (Wolverine Lake, Mich./Walled Lake Central HS). The young SVSU team returns three seniors and three juniors this season for ninth-year head coach Drago Dumbovic. Dumbovic enters the 2011 season with a 76-52-7 record at SVSU. Saginaw Valley State looks to improve upon
its third-place finish in the North Division in last fall's race for the GLIAC title.
Tiffin University was selected to win the South Division for the 2011 season.