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In nine seasons as a member of the Big South Conference, Longwood women’s soccer has been a consistent presence near the top of the league standings.

With the start of the 2021 season less than a week away, Big South coaches expect more of the same. 

Entering their 28th season under program founder and head coach Todd Dyer and a milestone 10th in the Big South, the Lancers were picked to finish fourth in the Big South Conference preseason coach’s poll announced Wednesday by the conference office. 

Owners of a 49-25-15 record in the Big South since 2012, Longwood received two third-place votes and seven fourth-place votes in the 2021 preseason poll to trail first-place High Point, second-place Campbell and third-place Radford. Reigning champion High Point drew eight of the 11 first-place votes from the league’s head coaches, while Campbell earned a pair and 11th-place Hampton drew the other. 

Longwood’s fourth-place prediction marks the program’s sixth time in the Big South’s preseason top four since joining the conference in 2012. The Lancers have exceeded their preseason prediction five times and have finished the year among the league’s top four five times – including third-place Big South regular-season finishes in 2012, 2013, 2017 and 2018.

This year’s Lancer squad boasts a stout frontline anchored by returning All-Big South forwards Alex Dinger and Kiersten Yuhas, and two-year starter Danielle Toone. That experience extends to the other end of the field as well, with the graduate student duo of Madison Hommey and Madison Lockamy returning to starting roles in the midfield, and reigning All-Big South back Kylie Cahill and returning sophomore starter Alayna Palamar once again anchoring the backfield. 

Longwood women’s soccer will open the 2021 season this Tuesday, Aug. 10, in a home exhibition against East Carolina at the Longwood Athletics Complex. That game will be open to the public and precedes the Lancers’ regular-season opener at VCU on Aug. 13. The VCU game will be the first of three consecutive road games to start the year.

2021 Big South Women’s Soccer Preseason Poll

1. High Point (118 points, 8 first-place votes)

2. Campbell (111 points, 2 first-place votes)

3. Radford (95 points)

4. Longwood (86)

5. Gardner-Webb (73)

6. Presbyterian (65)

7. Winthrop (51)

8. Charleston Southern (46)

9. USC Upstate (30)

10. UNC Asheville (29)

11. Hampton (22)