ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. − The Flagler College women’s soccer team was picked to finish eighth in the 11-team Peach Belt Conference according to the 2009 preseason coaches poll which was released Wednesday afternoon by conference officials.

Flagler garnered a total of 39 points. The Saints received one vote for fifth place, three for sixth and seventh places and one votes for eighth, ninth and tenth places.

Columbus State University, ranked No. 6 in the NSCAA/adidas Preseason Top 25 Poll, was the unanimous choice for first place with a total of 100 points and it received 10 first place votes. Georgia College and State University came in second with 87 points and were followed by Armstrong Atlantic State University with 81 points. UNC-Pembroke, ranked No. 21 nationally, came in fourth with 73 points followed by the University of Montevallo with 59 points, North Georgia College and State University with 57, and Lander University came in seventh with 43 points.

Trailing Flagler was Clayton State University with 33 points, USC-Aiken with 22 and Georgia Southwestern University rounded out the field with 11 points.

Columbus State won its fourth straight conference title last year and won its third straight conference tournament title in 2008.

Flagler makes its debut in the Peach Belt this season, along with Montevallo. The Saints posted a 6-11-1 record last year, but defeated Armstrong Atlantic 1-0 in their only meeting last year against a Peach Belt member. Flagler returns NSCAA/adidas All-South Region third-team selection Tiffany Urquhart (Ormond Beach, Fla./Seabreeze HS) who scored a team-high seven goals. The Saints open the 2009 season on Aug. 30 against New York Tech at 11 a.m. at the Flagler Field Complex.