BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University Bears have been picked to finish in second place in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) women's soccer standings for the 2017 season. The MASCAC Women's Soccer Preseason Poll was released this week by MASCAC Director of Media Relations, Emily Loux.

In a vote of the league's eight head coaches, Bridgewater tallied 43 points and received the most first place votes with four. Despite picking up just three first place votes, defending MASCAC regular season and tournament champion Worcester State University finished just ahead of the Bears in the poll with 45 votes. Westfield State University claimed the other first place vote as the Owls rounded out the top three teams with 41 points.

Under the guidance of fourth-year head coach Yasmina Carvalho, the BSU women's soccer team will open the 2017 campaign in New York as the Bears take on Skidmore College on Friday, September 1st (3:00 PM) and Union College on Saturday, September 2nd (1:00 PM).

The Bears' home opener is slated for Saturday, September 9th at 5:00 PM as non-conference foe Plymouth State University comes to Swenson Field.

The MASCAC schedule gets underway on Saturday, September 16th as the Bears entertain Salem State University at noon.

Last season, Coach Carvalho's squad posted an overall record of 7-6-6 and finished third in the MASCAC standings with a 4-1-2 conference mark. Seeded third in the MASCAC Tournament, the Bears edged Fitchburg State University, 1-0, in the quarterfinals before knocking off #2 seed Westfield State University on penalty kicks in the semifinals. The Bears' season came to an end with a heartbreaking 2-1 setback to top-seeded Worcester State University in the MASCAC title game.

Coach Carvalho returns eight starters from the 2016 team including MASCAC Player of the Year, senior goalkeeper Lauren DeSousa (Taunton, Mass.), and fellow All-MASCAC selections, sophomore forward Alana Vincent (Taunton, Mass.) and senior forward Courtney Pepin (Uxbridge, Mass.).

The Bears opened preseason camp on Monday, August 21st.