Less than two weeks out from the opening match-up of the 2022 regular season, the Lincoln Memorial University women's soccer team have been projected sixth in the South Atlantic Conference preseason coaches' poll, as returnees in senior defender Sydney Wolfenbarger, junior midfielder Merel Houweling, junior transfer defender Megan Snider and sophomore goalkeeper Bente Latenstein have all been named to the SAC Third Team All-Preseason.
The Lady Railsplitters approach the 2022 fall as the first full-season under head coach Tasha Flynn, who took over in the midst of the 2021 campaign and led LMU to a respectable 7-7-2 finish with a SAC quarterfinal appearance. The defending conference champion Catawba Indians have been voted as the preseason favorite, accumulating 121 total points and 11 first-place votes.
Showcased on the Blue & Grey's backline for much of the 2021 season, defender Sydney Wolfenbarger and keeper Bente Latenstein have been tabbed as returnees to look out for entering the fall in the South Atlantic Conference. Both Wolfenbarger and Latenstein played a major part in four of the Lady Railsplitters' clean sheet outings in 2021, with Wolfenbarger playing in all four and Latenstein seeing action in net for three. Wolfenbarger, one of the biggest veteran leaders on the squad for the 2022 season appeared and started in all 16 contests last fall, while the second-year keeper out of the Netherlands in Latenstein appeared in eight matches.
Junior transfer defender Megan Snider was also a featured selection to the third team all-preseason, seeing action and starting in 15 of 2021's 16 total games. Snider made an immediate impact in her first season in Harrogate, becoming one of the first names on the team sheet as a steeple figure of the rock-solid Lady Railsplitter backline.
Junior Merel Houweling was also tabbed as a preseason third team all-conference returnee, as the Dutch native bossed the Lady Railsplitter midfield for much of the 2021 campaign, appearing and starting all 16 matches. Although Houweling only scored one goal last season, the Dutchman receives much of her recognition and praise for her work in controlling the pace and flow of the Lincoln Memorial midfield.
The Lady Railsplitters open their 2022 schedule in Nashville at Trevecca Nazarene on Saturday, Aug. 27. The home opener and the commencement of the SAC schedule will all unfold on the same afternoon, as LMU hosts Lenoir-Rhyne in Harrogate on Wednesday, Sept. 7.
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