North Carolina, winner of three straight and 19 of 21 ACC women's championships, has been selected first in the 2008 ACC poll of the league's 11 head coaches.
The Tar Heels return eight
starters from last year's squad that finished 19-4-1 overall, including All-American
Yael Averbuch, All-American and U.S. Olympian
Tobin Heath and ACC Tournament MVP
Nikki Washington.
For the third year in a row, UNC, Florida State and Virginia have been predicted
to finish 1-2-3 in the ACC.
Florida State, which advanced to the final of the 2007 Women's College Cup, returns a strong nucleus that includes sophomores
Amanda DaCosta and
Sanna Talonen, the 2007 Soccer American Freshman of the Year.
Virginia returns nine starters, including
All-American defender
Nikki Krzysik and Soccer America all-freshman midfielder
Sinead Farrelly.
ACC PRESEASON POLL
1. North Carolina (7) 19-4-1
2. Florida State (2) 18-6-3
3. Virginia (1) 13-4-6
4. Boston College
11-5-4
5. Wake Forest (1) 13-7-3
6. Duke 10-6-7
7. Miami 9-7-5
8. Maryland 6-9-3
8. Virginia Tech 8-7-3
10. Clemson 10-6-5
11. N.C. State
6-10-3
(First-place votes in parentheses.)