LEXINGTON, Va. - The Old Dominion Athletic Conference released its 2022 Women's Soccer preseason poll on Thursday and Washington and Lee was selected fourth. 

The Generals collected 141 points in the poll, along with one first-place vote. Defending champion Virginia Wesleyan topped the poll with 161 points and eight first-place votes, while Bridgewater (150 points) and Lynchburg (148 points) were voted second and third, earning three first-place votes and two first-place votes, respectively.

W&L compiled a 13-3-2 overall record in 2021, with a 7-1-2 conference record, and appeared in the conference semifinals for the third straight season.

2022 ODAC Women's Soccer Preseason Poll

1. Virginia Wesleyan University (8) 161 pts.
2. Bridgewater College (3) 150 pts.
3. University of Lynchburg (2) 148 pts.
4. Washington and Lee University (1) 141 pts.
5. Randolph-Macon College 111 pts.
6. Roanoke College 110 pts.
7. Shenandoah University 103 pts.
8. Guilford College 87 pts.
9. Ferrum College 62 pts.
10. Eastern Mennonite University 61 pts.
11. Randolph College 52 pts.
12. Averett University 50 pts.
13. Hollins University 19 pts.
14. Sweet Briar College 19 pts.

2022 Schedule Overview

The Generals will begin their campaign at the Haverford College Kick-off Classic on Saturday and Sunday, September 3 and 4, where they will take on Stevens and Arcadia, respectively. W&L will then return to Lexington for a pair of opening weekend games on September 10 against Franklin and Marshall and September 11 against Gettysburg, both at 1:00 pm on Watt Field.

From there, the Generals will play three consecutive road games against Covenant (9/17), Berry (Ga.) (9/18) and Southern Virginia (9/21), before playing in their ODAC opener against Shenandoah on Saturday, September 24, at 2:00 pm.

W&L steps out of conference action for the final time on October 1 in a home game against Mary Washington, before taking on ODAC competition for the remaining nine contests. Of those nine games, the Generals will face Randolph-Macon (10/5), Hollins (10/9), Virginia Wesleyan (10/15), Bridgewater (10/19) and Ferrum (10/29) on home turf. The remaining four ODAC contests will be played on the road against Eastern Mennonite (10/8), Roanoke (10/12), ODAC newcomer Averett (10/22) and Lynchburg (10/26).

Outside of ODAC play, the Generals' lone repeat opponent from a season-ago is Southern Virginia, who W&L defeated by a 2-0 score in the 2021 season opener, courtesy of a brace from then sophomore Louisa Bynum. The Generals went undefeated over the final six ODAC games (5-0-1) after opening the conference slate with a mark of 1-1-1.

The W&L schedule will now feature Averett as a conference opponent with the Cougars joining the ODAC ahead of the 2022 season. The Generals and Cougars have met three times all-time, with W&L posting shutouts of 5-0 (9/10/11), 6-0 (9/17/17) and 7-0 (9/18/19).

The 2022 ODAC Women's Soccer Tournament will commence with the Quarterfinals on November 1 at each of the top four seeds. The semifinals will then be played on November 4 at the two highest remaining seeds, followed by the championship game at the highest remaining seed on November 6.

Key Returners

The Generals return four of their six All-ODAC performers from last season's team. Senior Grace Wielechowski was a first team honoree as a junior after she led the team in both goals (11) and points (23), while ranking third in both categories in the ODAC. Junior Liz Sullivan joined Wielechowski on the All-ODAC First Team, as she aided a defensive unit that yielded a 0.54 goals-against average on the season. Sullivan also added four points on one goal and two assists on the offensive end of the field.

Bynum was a Second Team All-ODAC selection last season as she scored three goals on the season and was also a component of W&L's strong backline. One of Bynum's goals came just eight seconds after a Wielechowski goal at Sweet Briar, marking the fastest consecutive goals in program history and tied for the third fastest in NCAA Division III history.

Junior Cameron Grainger rounds out the returning All-ODAC players from the 2021 team, after she tallied the third most points on the team (13) on five goals and three assists from the midfield.

Another key returner for this year's team is senior forward Lindsay White, who missed the entire 2021 fall season due to an injury suffered during the 2021 spring season. White has appeared in 30 games entering this season and owns 31 career points on 13 goals and five assists. She led the team in goals (9) and points (20) as a first-year, before tallying 11 points in 11 games during her sophomore campaign.

Team Captains

New Faces On Staff

The W&L women's soccer team will feature a pair of new coaches on the sideline this season. Tiffany Pins was named the third head coach in program history, while Robert Tomecek joins the staff as the new assistant coach.

Pins comes to Washington and Lee from Wartburg College, where she served as the head coach of women's soccer for the last 11 seasons. During that time, she registered a 132-53-27 (.686) overall record, winning three regular-season conference championships and two additional conference tournament championships. She received the American River Conference Coaching Staff of the Year Award in 2015 and 2020, and she was named the United Soccer Coaches North Region Coach of the Year in 2015 when she coached the Knights to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division III Tournament. Her teams have appeared in the NCAA Division III National Tournament on seven occasions, including four times in the last five seasons.
 
She coached her players to tremendous success on the individual level as well, evidenced by 61 players earning all-conference laurels, including six conference MVP citations. Additionally, her players have earned five All-America awards, eight Scholar All-America awards and four have been awarded the prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship.
 
She served on the NCAA North Regional Advisory Committee from 2016-18 and she holds several United Soccer Coaches Coaching Diplomas, including the Advanced Regional and National Diplomas and the State and Regional Goalkeeper Diplomas.
 
Prior to taking over as head coach, Pins served as an assistant coach at Wartburg from 2005-07 and she was also an assistant coach at Denison University from 2007-11.
 
Pins graduated from Wartburg in 2005 with a bachelor of arts in history and she later earned a master of arts in physical education with an emphasis in teaching and coaching from the University of Northern Iowa in 2010.
 
As a student-athlete, Pins began her collegiate career at the University of Green Bay, before transferring to Wartburg for her final two years. She earned all-conference honors as a senior, graduating with school records for goals in a season (22) and points in a season (47) and career (103).

Tomecek arrives at W&L after serving as the Women's Soccer Graduate Assistant Coach at Carthage College for the past two seasons. While at Carthage, Tomecek recruited players, assisted in planning and coaching practice sessions and edited film, while he also earned a Master of Education degree in Sports Leadership.
 
Prior to Carthage, Tomecek was an assistant coach for Pins at Wartburg College. Tomecek helped the team to a 28-9-4 overall record in his two seasons, including a 2019 American Rivers Conference Tournament championship and two NCAA Tournament appearances. He also assisted the Wartburg men's soccer team in 2019 as the second assistant, helping the Knights to an 8-8-2 record.
 
Tomecek also worked as a coach at Benet Academy in Lisle, Ill., holding stints as the girls' varsity assistant in 2018 and volunteer coach from 2012-17, as well as the junior varsity boys' head coach in 2016. He helped the girls' varsity team to a 20-4-1 record in 2018, as the team recorded the second-most shutouts in program history that season.
 
Tomecek attended Macalester College where he earned his bachelor of arts degree in economics in 2017, with a minor in psychology. He was also a four-year starting defender on the men's soccer team, a two-time All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) selection and he twice appeared on the All-MIAC Sportsmanship team.