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University of New Hampshire Athletics
2/9/2021 6:45:00 PM | Women's Soccer
BOSTON – The University of New Hampshire women's soccer team, led by seventh-year head coach Steve Welham, was picked fifth in the Spring 2021 America East Women's Soccer Preseason Poll that was released Wednesday.
The 2021 Wildcats, with 12 freshmen on the roster, are led by senior captains Casey Peterson (Round Hill, Va.) and Francesca Picicci (North Massapequa, N.Y.); Peterson is a second-year captain who has 30 starts the past two seasons. Whitney Wiley (Vienna, Va.) was a 2019 America East All-Rookie Team selection; she ranked third on the team in goals (five), assists (three) and points (13) that season.
Stony Brook University received all nine possible first-place votes and a total of 81 points in the poll. The University of Hartford received the other first-place vote and 70 points.
The third through sixth spots were separated by 11 points with UAlbany (58 points) followed by UMass Lowell (53), UNH (50) and Binghamton University (47). NJIT (35), University of Maine (26), University of Vermont (20) and UMBC (10) complete the poll.
Conference play begins on March 7 as teams are scheduled to play a total of six league games. NJIT's addition gives the league 10 teams, which will be broken into two five-team divisions and play each team within its pod once plus two additional matches.
The top two teams in each division will qualify for the America East Women's Soccer Championship, which will be held at tournament's top seed. The semifinals take place on April 15 and the championship tilt is April 17. The league champion will earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
UNH is scheduled to open the Spring 2021 season Sunday, Feb. 14 at home against Northeastern University. VIEW COMPLETE SPRING 2021 SCHEDULE
The Wildcats are coming off a 10-8-0 overall record and America East semifinal appearance in the 2019 season.
Spring 2021 America East Women's Soccer Preseason Poll
| Place | Team | Points | First-Place Votes |
| 1. | Stony Brook | 81 | 9 |
| 2. | Hartford | 70 | 1 |
| 3. | UAlbany | 58 | -- |
| 4. | UMass Lowell | 53 | -- |
| 5. | New Hampshire | 50 | -- |
| 6. | Binghamton | 47 | -- |
| 7. | NJIT | 35 | -- |
| 8. | Maine | 26 | -- |
| 9. | Vermont | 20 | -- |
| 10. | UMBC | 10 | -- |
