ROYAL OAK, MICH.-- The Trine women's soccer team was picked to finish ninth in the MIAA by the conference's coaches in the league preseason poll, which was released Thursday.
The Thunder received votes totaling 54 points in the poll. Trine is coming off a season in which the young team finished 2-17 overall, and 1-15 in the MIAA. The Thunder lose just once senior off last season's squad and will look to improvement from a young, but experienced core of players to climb up the conference standings this season. Defending-conference champion Calvin was predicted to repeat as MIAA champions. The MIAA Preseason Poll is the result of votes cast by the league's coaches.
Trine is hoping that lessons learned from eight one-goal losses last season will translate into more wins this fall. Last season, 90 percent of Trine's scoring came from underclassmen and the experience gained should serve the team well moving forward. Skyler Reed (Fort Wayne, Ind./Carroll) led the attack with three goals and three assists last season.
The regular-season opens Friday, Aug. 29 when Trine travels to the Franklin Invitational Soccer Tournament, where they will face Franklin at 8:30 p.m. The Thunder will face Rose-Hulman the following day at 5 p.m. The home-opener for TU will come on Sep. 8, when they will open MIAA-play against Kalamazoo.
Prior to opening the season, Trine will participate in the Shindigz National Soccer Festival on Aug. 22 in Fort Wayne. The Thunder will face Concordia Chicago.
The complete results of the MIAA Preseason Poll are listed below.
| Team | Points (First-Place Votes) | |
| 1. | Calvin | 8 (8) |
| 2. | Hope | 13 (1) |
| 3. | Alma | 20 |
| 4. | St. Mary's | 29 |
| 5. | Adrian | 35 |
| 6. | Kalamazoo | 36 |
| 7. | Albion | 45 |
| 8. | Olivet | 49 |
| 9. | Trine | 54 |