Complete Release

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (Aug. 28, 2015) - The LIU Post women's soccer team has claimed the top spot in the 2015 East Coast Conference Preseason Poll, released Friday. Senior forward Susanne Vistnes (Randaberg, Norway) and junior defender Kristin Brandman (East Northport, N.Y.) were named the ECC Preseason Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year, respectively.
                                             
After capturing the ECC regular-season title in 2014, the green and gold earned three first-place votes and 90 points to take their place atop the poll. Bridgeport ran a close second, tallying three first-place votes and 86 points. Mercy followed in third with four first-place nods and 85 points.
 
Vistnes, a three-time ECC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year honoree, begins the final year of one of the most decorated careers in LIU Post and ECC history. She has won the league's offensive player of the year award and earned All-America distinction in each of her first three years after another outstanding season in 2014. In 19 games, Vistnes tallied a conference-high 19 goals and 48 points. She also finished third in the ECC with 10 assists. Vistnes' numbers were amongst the best in the nation, as her goal and point totals, along with her goal per game (1.0) and point per game (2.58) averages, ranked third in Division II.
 
Brandman is the reigning ECC Defensive Player of the Year. Like Vistnes, Brandman was an All-American in 2014 with a selection to the Daktronics Second Team. She was instrumental in helping the Pioneers allow only 14 markers and a 0.72 goals-against average in 19 contests.

Head Coach Mark Dawson and the Pioneers begin the 2015 campaign next Friday (Sept. 4), when they square off with Southern Connecticut State University at the Bridgeport Soccer Classic in Bridgeport, Conn. The opening kick is scheduled for 4 p.m.
 
2015 ECC Women's Soccer Preseason Poll
1. LIU Post (Three First-Place Votes) - 90 Points
2. Bridgeport (Three First-Place Votes) - 86 Points
3. Mercy (Four First-Place Votes) - 85 Points
4. Dowling - 69 Points
5. Roberts Wesleyan - 57 Points
6. Molloy - 52 Points
7. Queens - 41 Points
8. St. Thomas Aquinas - 27 Points
9. NYIT - 22 Points
10. Daemen - 21- Points