UNCG Women’s Soccer 2024 Season Preview
SoCon Announces Women’s Soccer Preseason Predictions
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNC Greensboro (UNCG) women’s soccer team will begin the 2024 season with back-to-back games on the road before hosting Colorado for its home opener. Let’s take a look at the season outlook.
The Spartans were selected to finish seventh in The Southern Conference (SoCon) Preseason Coaches’ Poll, voted on by the league’s 10 head coaches.
Western Carolina, which garnered eight first-place votes, finished with 80 points. Samford was second with 72 points and had the final two first-place votes. ETSU was picked third with 60 points, while Mercer was fourth with 57 points. Furman was voted fifth with 46 points and Chattanooga fell sixth with 45 points. UNCG received 39 points and Wofford received 22 points, placing seventh and eighth, respectively. The Citadel totaled 19 points to be voted ninth and VMI rounded out the poll with 10 points.
The Spartans earned the fifth seed in the 2023 SoCon Tournament that saw Furman advance behind a 3-1 margin in penalty kicks. The Blue & Gold scored a season-best five goals in a 5-1 win over VMI last season. This was the most goals scored by the Spartans since October 10, 2021 when UNCG defeated The Citadel 5-0.
UNCG is returning Taylor Mentzer, who tied for first in goals scored last season. She scored a career-best five goals tying with recent graduate, Caroline Woods. Haydan Erck, who led the Spartans with three assists, also returns to the front line.
The Spartans will see Emma Malone, who started and played in 17 games last season, back in net. Joining her will be Jill Ginn and newcomer Morgan Shively. In total, UNCG brought in six freshmen and one graduate transfer.
Other key returners that tallied points last season include Ava Kiss, who tallied five points, while Mel Herrera, Bailey Gourdine and Ryen Ortiz each chipped in four points each.
UNCG will battle Richmond on the road (Aug. 11) and Barton at home (Aug. 14) to wrap up its exhibition slate before traveling to UNC Wilmington (Aug. 18) and East Carolina (Aug. 22) to begin its regular season. The Spartans host Colorado, a 2023 NCAA Tournament team, on August 29 at 7:00 p.m. at the UNCG Soccer Stadium.
2024 Women’s Soccer SoCon Preseason Coaches’ Poll
1.Western Carolina (8) 80
2.Samford (2) 72
3.ETSU 60
4.Mercer 57
5.Furman 46
6.Chattanooga 45
7.UNCG 39
8.Wofford 22
9.The Citadel 19
10.VMI 10
() – denotes first-place votes
Courtesy of Denise Archetto
Assistant Athletic Director For Strategic Communications
UNC Greensboro