ROYAL OAK, Mich. - The coaches of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) have picked the Trine University women's soccer team to finish eighth this season in the preseason poll announced today. Defending conference champion Calvin College was picked to repeat in 2013.

Calvin received seven out of a possible nine first-place votes in the preseason poll. Alma, which was picked to finish second, and Saint Mary's, which was picked fourth, each received one first-place vote.

The Thunder team returns a core of young players from a team that fell in several close games last season including one-goal contests to tournament qualifiers Hope and Alma. The roster features leading scorers in sophomores Skyler Reed and Kayla Case along with junior Eleni Agelopolous, who led the Thunder in assists a season ago.

Also returning for the squad is sophomore goalie Sloan Davis, who started all 20 games in goal for the Thunder. Davis had an outstanding freshman campaign as she finished the season ranked 22nd in Division III in total saves and 31st in minutes played. She also recorded 16 saves in a game against Hope.

The Thunder also returns juniors Trisha King, Melissa Smiles and Amy Williams. King has started all 40 games during her two years at Trine while Williams and Smiles have started all but one game during their time. The team also returns sophomores Kara Franks, Lindsay Hoffman, Jamie McCarrell and Jordyn Rogers, all of whom saw significant playing time last season.

Trine will open their season at home on August 30 when they play Illinois Tech at 6:00 p.m. The team will also host Manchester for a non-conference match on September 3 before opening up conference play against Kalamazoo on the road on Sept. 9 at 7:00 p.m.

Poll Results (first-place votes in parenthesis): 1. Calvin (7) 9 pts. 2. Alma (1) 18. 3. Hope 25. 4. Saint Mary's (1) 28. 5. Adrian 31. 6. Kalamazoo 43. 7. Olivet 52. 8. Trine 58. 9. Albion 60.