BATES WOMEN'S SOCCER RANKED 17TH NATIONALLY IN PRESEASON POLL
 

LEWISTON, Maine -- The Bates College women's soccer team, coming off an appearance in the NCAA national quarterfinals a year ago, has been ranked 17th in the nation in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/Umbro preseason poll.

Coach Jim Murphy's Bobcats were 13-3-1 in 1996. They return nine of 11 starters from a year ago, including two all-star forwards, first-team All American Kate O'Malley '00 (Deephaven, Minn.) and first-team All-New England selection Colleen McCrave '99 (Walpole, Mass.).

Bates opens its season Sept. 9 at the University of New England. The first home contest is Sept. 20 against Trinity. The Bobcats face two other top 25 teams, both on the road: No. 8 Williams (Oct. 4) and No. 21 Bowdoin (Nov. 1).

"I am very pleased that our team has received this recognition," Murphy said. "Now we have to prove that we deserve it."

 Rank School                       Record Points 1996 Rank
 1    UC-San Diego                 21-1-0   297  1
 2    The College of New Jersey    19-2-2   285  2
 3    Amherst (Mass.)              12-2-3   261  3
 4    University of Chicago        16-4-1   252  4
 5    Macalester (Minn.)           16-3-2   234  6
 6    Ithaca College (N.Y.)        16-4-0   222  7
 7    Gustavus Adolphus (Minn.)    15-3-1   201  17
 8    Williams (Mass.)             11-1-3   189  12
 9    Richard Stockton (N.J.)      14-5-2   180  15
 10   Trinity (Tex.)               15-3-1   162  5
 11   Randolph-Macon (Va.)         18-2-1   147  11
 12   Emory (Ga.)                  14-6-0   138  14
 13   Wilmington (Ohio)            16-3-0   120  10
 14   College of Wooster (Ohio)    18-3-0   108  19
 15   North Carolina Wesleyan      15-3-2   90   23
 16   Rochester (N.Y.)             14-4-1   81   13
 17  Bates College (Maine)    13-3-1  42  8
 18   Heidelberg (Ohio)            17-5-0   33   16
 19   Kean College (N.J.)          16-3-1   32   18
 20   Cal Lutheran                 17-3-0   28   20
 21   Bowdoin (Maine)              11-2-2   21   21
 22   Skidmore (N.Y.)              11-5-2   12   22
 23   William Smith (N.Y.)         12-5-1   6    24
 24   Washington Univ. (Mo.)       14-4-0   5    25
 25   Methodist College (N.C.)      9-4-3   4    NR