Photo ID (L-R) Grace Berry, Abby Whitcomb, Avery Sides
After directing his first Lee University women’s soccer team to a 7-5-6 overall record and 6-2-4 against Gulf South Conference competition, head coach Lee Hughes and his Lady Flames have been picked to finish third in annual GSC Preseason Coaches’ Poll. The defending 2024 regular season and conference tournament champion University of West Florida, who finished last season’s regular-season campaign 17-1-4 and 10-0-2 in GSC play commanded the No.1 position. The University of Montevallo, 9-2-1 in league action a year ago was voted No.2 and ahead of the No.3 Lady Flames.
Listed in order: Union University, Mississippi College, Valdosta State University, Delta State University, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Trevecca Nazarene University, Spring Hill College, University of West Alabama, Auburn University at Montgomery, and Christian Brothers University rounds out the voting of the coaches. Trevecca and Montevallo thrilled their home fans by battling the Argonauts to 1-1 draws last season.
Lee joined West Florida and Montevallo in placing three players on the Coaches’ Preseason All-GSC Team. All three Lady Flames are seniors and are coming off solid performances in 2024. Midfielder Grace Berry, defender Avery Sides and goalkeeper Abby Whitcomb were key reasons why Lee only allowed 19 goals last season.
“It is always nice for our players to be recognized for all the hard work they put in,” said coach Hughes. “I know they are really excited to get the season going!”
The three preseason selections will be joined by redshirt senior Nora Burton who played in all 18 games last season and by Alaysia Nye who was on the pitch for 15 contests. Coach Hughes will be looking toward juniors, a sophomore, and a graduate transfer to be prime time players. He believes he has recruited a promising freshmen class that will be ready to step in and go against another rugged schedule.
Added the coach, “We have some talented players in this group, but most of all I think we are going to be a really hard-working team. Our culture has grown a lot this past spring and summer. We will be wanting to improve all areas of our game and always working to be better than we were the day before. We will be taking it one day, one game and one training session at a time. Relentlessly focusing on the process!”
Coach Hughes will take his team to Hickory, N.C. on Sept. 4 to open the season against a Lenoir-Rhyne University team that posted a 13-2-5 mark and advanced to the NCAA DII National Tournament last season. After returning home to host Tusculum College (Sept. 10) it is back on the road to Dahlonega, Ga. and challenge a University of North Georgia club (13-4-3) that advanced even deeper into National Tournament action this past year. “I am really excited to get the season going!” the coach stressed. “We have an awesome schedule and some huge games. It is going to be a really fun group to work with.”
Former Lee player Tom Halsall returns as Coach Hughes’ assistant. Halsall is a 2016 Lee graduate who spent the past three years as the women’s head coach at Bryan College. From the United Kingdom, Halsall was a part of Premier League Club Manchester City as a goalkeeper from ages 12-18.
As a member of the Flames, he was outstanding in goal for four seasons. “Tom is a great guy. The girls will enjoy having him around. He will be heading up our goalkeeper union,” noted Coach Hughes.
When asked about his team goals for the upcoming year the coach replied, “I am not a big goals guy. The staff and team know we will compete to win championships every year and that is just the standard. This is how I explain it to the team on day one.
“We are going to be relentlessly focused on process and that means intentionally eliminating any outside distractions. It means not focusing on the outcome, but focusing on each single day, every single game.”
The coach concluded, “The toughest task this year will be living that out but when you do, we will have an unsinkable ship because there isn’t any holes or cracks that are letting water in.”
2025 GSC Women’s Soccer Preseason Coaches’ Poll
1. West Florida (12) - 144
2. Montevallo (1) - 132
3. Lee - 122
4. Union - 104
5. Mississippi College - 101
6. Valdosta State - 94
7. Delta State - 67
8. UAH - 63
9. Trevecca Nazarene - 52
10. Spring Hill - 510
11. West Alabama - 43
12. Auburn Montgomery - 27
13. Christian Brothers - 14
First-place votes in parenthesis ( )
25 Preseason All-GSC Team
GK – Abby Whitcomb, Lee
D – Irene Arias, Union
D – Ava Webster, Delta State
D – Makayla Parkes, West Florida
D – Katherine Kimmel, Valdosta State
D – Avery Sides, Lee
M – Julieta Limardo, West Florida
M – Grace Berry, Lee
M – Morgan Goehring, Montevallo
M – Maria Rojas, Valdosta State
F – Mya Swinton, West Florida
F – Shadia Valenzuela, Montevallo
F – Isabel Dillehay, Montevallo
F – Lucia Revuelto, Union