Lady Argos Expected to Make a Run for Soccer Title

[Editor' note: The following was submitted by NDNU.]

The Notre Dame de Namur (NDNU) women’s soccer team closed out last season with three straight victories to move into a sixth place finish in the Pacific West Conference.  This year, the Argos look to pick up where they left off and make a run at the conference title. 

NDNU has been picked to finish fifth by the PacWest coaches this week after returning 9 of 11 starters from last season’s squad. The Argos ended last season with a 7-6-1 conference record and had four players named to the All-PacWest squad.

Three of those players return this year and have all been named to the Preseason All-Conference Team.  Adriana Cortes and Massiel Castellanos both garnered accolades in the midfield while Amrun Singh was selected on the defensive side. 

Cortes, a senior from Daly City, CA/Woodside Priory, earned First Team All-PacWest honors in her debut season last year.   She was an anchor in the midfield for the Argos, starting all 18 games as a center mid and finished second on the team in goals (7), assists (5) and points (19).  Cortes scored several amazing goals, including five on shots from outside the box.  She also led all conference newcomers in goals, points and assists. 

Castellanos, a junior from San Mateo, CA/Woodside Priory earned Honorable Mention status for the second consecutive year after a stellar sophomore season.   She finished tied for second on the team in goals with seven while adding two assists.  Castellanos started 16 games for the Argos and scored the game-winning-goal in three of the team’s eight wins. 

Singh, a senior Fremont, CA/Mission San Jose HS received Third Team accolades last year after earning Honorable Mention status the year before.   She was once again the top defender on the team while adding some offense from her position in the back.  Singh scored her first two career goals while adding three assists.  She started all 18 games for NDNU, playing nearly every position on the backline and has started all 54 games in her career. 

The three players NDNU had selected on the Preseason All-Conference team were second only to California Baptist who had four chosen.  The Lancers were picked to win the conference with 10 first place votes, followed by Azusa Pacific, Point Loma and BYU Hawaii. 

The Argos were one of the top teams in the conference offensively last year, finishing second in goals with 38 and assists with 38.  They scored at least three goals in seven different games, including the games with five goals. 

NDNU will kick off its season on September 5th when they host CSU Monterey Bay at Koret Field.