Long-time CCC power Concordia University is blessed with a host of returnees, including the 2007 CCC Defensive Player of the Year and three-time first team All-American Jackie Pronovost.
Concordia Picked to Repeat as CCC Champion
PORTLAND, Ore. – Concordia University is a prohibitive favorite to win its ninth consecutive Cascade Collegiate Conference women’s soccer title, according to a preseason poll of the league’s 11 head coaches.
The Cavaliers received all 11 first-place votes and totaled 121 points in outdistancing Corban, which was picked to finish second. Southern Oregon finished third, and was followed by College of Idaho, Oregon Tech, Northwest, Evergreen, Cascade, Warner Pacific, Eastern Oregon, and Northwest Christian.
The Cavaliers, who have advanced to the NAIA Championships each of the last seven seasons, return a host of key contributors from last year’s 18-2-2 squad, including 2007 CCC Offensive Player of the Year Jessica Ramback and 2007 CCC Defensive Player of the Year Jackie Pronovost. Pronovost is a three-time first team All-American. CU also returns first team All-CCC selections in senior midfielders Carli Godard and Caitlin Verhofstadt, and senior forward Justine Pronovost. In total, CU returns eight starters and 15 letterwinners from its 2007 club, which went unbeaten (10-0) and unscored upon in CCC regular season play before winning the league’s postseason tournament title and advancing as far as the NAIA quarterfinals.
Corban, which is coming off a second-place regular season finish last year, returns five starters from a year ago, including senior keeper Karyn Allen, junior forward Jessica Matthews and sophomore forward/midfielder Katie Hanson. Southern Oregon, which returns six starters from a team which finished ninth in the league last year, is expected to make a big jump in the conference standings under second-year coach Jon Clement.
The league will showcase a total of eight returning first team All-Cascade Collegiate Conference selections in 2008. In addition to the five returning All-CCC honorees from Concordia, others are senior keeper Jaclyn Unruh and junior forward Katie O’Brien from Oregon Tech, and junior defender Amy Korzelius from Cascade.
The top six teams in the final regular season standings will advance to the CCC’s single-elimination postseason tournament. Quarterfinal games are set for Saturday, Nov. 1, with the semis taking place Nov. 5 and the championship game Nov. 12. The winner of the CCC tournament will earn the league’s automatic bid to the NAIA Championships.
| 2008 CCC Preseason Poll |
| Pl. |
Institution |
Points |
2007 Overall |
2007 CCC |
| 1 |
Concordia (11) |
121 |
18-2-2 |
10-0 |
| 2 |
Corban |
100 |
10-9 |
7-3 |
| 3 |
Southern Oregon |
89 |
7-8-3 |
3-5-2 |
| 4 |
College of Idaho |
85 |
9-7-3 |
5-3-2 |
| 5 |
Oregon Tech |
72 |
12-9-1 |
6-4 |
| 6 |
Northwest |
58 |
3-10-4 |
3-5-2 |
| 7 |
Evergreen |
54 |
5-8-1 |
4-5-1 |
| 8 |
Cascade |
49 |
8-7-3 |
4-4-2 |
| 9 |
Warner Pacific |
47 |
8-9-1 |
4-5-1 |
| 10 |
Eastern Oregon |
37 |
5-9 |
4-6 |
| 11 |
Northwest Christian |
14 |
0-15-1 |
0-10 |
Note: first place votes in parentheses |