The Seahawks, who welcome back six starters and 18 letter winners from last season's squad that finished tied for second with an 8-3 CAA record, garnered 87 total points. James Madison, which advanced to the round of 16 in last year's NCAA Women's Soccer Championship, is favored to capture the CAA women's soccer title in 2009 as the Dukes received 10 out of a possible 11 first-place votes and 120 total points.

Perennial power William & Mary got one first-place vote and 106 points to finish second and Hofstra, which has won a pair of CAA titles in the last four years, was third with 98 points. Following the Seahawks was defending CAA champion Northeastern, which received one first-place vote and 82 total points. Old Dominion (79) was close behind in sixth, followed by VCU (51), George Mason (49), Delaware (46), Towson (36), Georgia State (25) and Drexel (13).

The CAA has had a great deal of success in women's soccer, with three teams advancing to the second round of the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship for the past two years. The conference has placed two or more teams in the NCAA Tournament field in 14 of the past 16 seasons.

"JMU is deserving of the top pick," said UNCW Head Coach Paul Cairney, the reigning CAA Coach-of-the-Year. "They are a quality team with great players and quality coaches. Both William & Mary and Hofstra are two of the top teams in the CAA, so it is no surprise they are expected to finish second and third. Since only four teams will make our post-season tourney, I truly feel it will be a very close CAA race this season."

UNCW hosts Elon in an exhibition match Thursday at 7 p.m. at the UNCW Soccer Stadium before opening the regular season Aug. 26 in a 7 p.m. contest at Wake Forest.   

2009 CAA WOMEN'S SOCCER PRE-SEASON COACHES POLL

1. James Madison (10 first-place votes)         120

2. William & Mary (1 first-place vote)             106

3. Hofstra                                                     98

4. UNC Wilmington                                       87

5. Northeastern (1 first-place vote)                  82

6. Old Dominion                                           79

7. VCU                                                        51

8. George Mason                                         49

9. Delaware                                                 46

10. Towson                                                 36

11. Georgia State                                        25

12. Drexel                                                  13

(Teams received 11 points for a first-place vote, 10 for second, etc. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team.)