Rio women picked second in RSC preseason poll

Rio Grande/RSC Sports Information
     MIDDLETOWN, Ohio - The University of Rio Grande women's soccer team has been picked as the runner-up in the 2024 River States Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll.
     The poll, announced Tuesday by the league office, saw each of the conference's 10 head coaches rank the other member schools in order of predicted finish.
     The RedStorm collected one first place vote and 71 points in the balloting, finishing behind only two-time defending champion Indiana University Kokomo.
     IU Kokomo, which had eight first place votes and 79 points in the voting, has lost just one conference match in the past two seasons, winning the RSC regular season and tournament title in both seasons. Rio Grande took the Cougars to penalty kicks in the championship of the 2023 River States Conference Tournament.
     Head coach Brooke Perkins' RedStorm returns a pair of first team all-conference picks from last year in Amora Albano, a sophomore forward from Albany, Ohio, who finished with a team-best 12 goals and 28 points and Hannah Halstead, a junior from Delaware, Ohio, started all 18 games and is regarded as one of the team's top defenders.
     Rio also returns junior midfielder Jitske De Muijnk (Nymegen, The Netherlands), who was third on the team with nine goals and 23 points, while also recording a team-high five assists.
     The RedStorm are scheduled to open their season on Thursday afternoon at Bluefield (Va.) University.
     Shawnee State placed third in the preseason coaches' poll (59 pts.), with IU East (55 pts.) placing fourth. The Red Wolves earned the other of the first place votes.
     The top five is completed by the Pomeroys of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods (47 pts.).
     The bottom half of the poll sees Midway in sixth place (45 pts.), Brescia (29 pts.) at seventh, West Virginia University-Tech (27 pts.) eighth, Oakland City (23 pts.) checking in at ninth, and IU Columbus (15 pts.) rounding out the conference at 10th.
     In addition to Rio Grande, two other teams will play on the first day of allowable competition, as IU Kokomo, and Saint Mary-of-the-Woods both play games on the road on Thursday.
Conference play is scheduled to begin Thursday, September 26, with a pair of matchups - WVU Tech heads to the Hoosier State for a meeting with IU Columbus, while the top two teams in the preseason poll, IU Kokomo and Rio Grande, face off in Kokomo.