Bulldogs slated fourth in NEC preseason poll

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University women's soccer team will finish 2018 the same way they did 2017, according to the Northeast Conference women's soccer coaches. Bryant was picked fourth in the league's preseason poll that was announced Monday afternoon.

The Bulldogs finished 5-3 in conference games last season, earning the program's second playoff berth in the last three seasons. Bryant tied a D1 program winning 11 total games in 18 tries last year, finishing with an 11-5-2 clip.

Bryant's offense returns eight of their nine top scorers from a season ago, including their leading scorer, junior Remi Manna (Pleasantville, N.Y.), who tallied ten points on four goals and two assists in 2017. Seniors Alison Guilmette (Coventry, R.I.) and Cayla D'Amico (Grafton, Mass.) recorded five points last season, as did sophomore Katie Cronin (Feeding Hills, Mass.), rounding out the top five from last season.

Defensively, the Bulldogs return a consistent piece in the center of their Division I program record-setting defense with sophomore Jamie Irwin (Succasunna, N.J.) returning for her second season in the Black and Gold. She became the first freshman in program history to be named First Team All-NEC and was also named to the United Soccer Coaches Division I All-East Region Third Team, another program first.

Bryant opens their 2018 regular season a week from today, hosting Quinnipiac on August 20 in the first of four consecutive home games in Smithfield.

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FULL NORTHEAST CONFERENCE POLL

1. Saint Francis U (4)
2. Fairleigh Dickinson (3)
3. Central Connecticut (1)
4. Bryant (1)
5. Sacred Heart
6. Robert Morris
7. LIU Brooklyn
8. Wagner
9. Mount St. Mary's