Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell's Jennifer Dervarics Named Patriot League Preseason Offensive Player of Year in Women's Soccer
8/21/2008 8:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Aug. 21, 2008
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Bucknell women's soccer co-captain Jennifer Dervarics was named the Patriot League Preseason Offensive Player of the Year on Thursday, one day before the Bison open their 2008 regular season on the road against UMBC.
The Patriot League also\ announced its preseason women's soccer poll, and despite receiving twice as many first-place votes as any other team, Bucknell was picked a close second in the poll, just two points behind Navy. The Mids, who defeated the Bison in last year's Patriot League championship match, earned four first-place nods and 88 total points. Bucknell collected eight first-place votes from the league's head coaches and sports information directors and totaled 86 points.
Colgate (72 points, one first-place vote), American (70 points, three first-place votes), Lehigh (49), Army (42), Holy Cross (23) and Lafayette (18) rounded out the poll.
For the first time in the sport of women's soccer, preseason offensive and defensive players of the year were selected. Dervarics captured the inaugural offensive honor after being named Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year in 2007, when she tallied 30 points on 12 goals and six assists. The two-time all-conference selection was also named to the Soccer Buzz Mid-Atlantic Region Third Team last season.
Dervarics enters the 2008 campaign ranked sixth on Bucknell's career scoring chart with 61 points, and her 24 goals are seventh all-time.
Navy's Shelly Moeller was named PL Preseason Defensive Player of the Year.
Bucknell finished 11-8-2 overall last season and won its second straight Patriot League regular-season title with a 5-1-1 conference record. The Bison return 10 starters and 19 letterwinners from that team, including Dervarics and fellow All-Patriot Leaguers Kelliann Doherty, Nicole Marotta, Kathryn Sutton and Lauren Stoller.
