Westminster second in PAC women's soccer preseason coaches' poll

8/19/2025 2:30:00 PM

TRAFFORD, Pa.--The Westminster College women's soccer program was picked to finish the 2025 season second in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC). The results of this year's preseason coaches' poll, voted on by the conference's 12 head coaches, were revealed with the PAC's Players to Watch List Tuesday afternoon.

Led by 2024 PAC Coach of the Year Girish Thakar, now in his 23rd-year leading the women's program, Westminster received 105 points and three first-place votes in the poll. The 2025 Westminster roster features 28 players, including eight freshmen, two sophomores, seven juniors and 11 seniors. Two-time defending PAC champion Grove City claimed the top spot in this year's preseason poll with 116 points and eight first-place votes. Allegheny was picked to finish third with 96 points.

Westminster, a six-time time PAC champion, posted a 9-0-1 regular season conference record to earn the top seed in last year's PAC Championship Tournament, falling to No. 2 Grove City 4-3 in the title game to finish the year 11-6-1.

Three returning starters highlight the players to watch list: junior defender Jocelyn Gratchic (Connellsville, Pa., Connellsville), senior midfielder Emma Maloberti (Cranberry Township, Pa., Seneca Valley) and senior goalkeeper Morgan Murphy (Yardley, Pa., Villa Joseph Marie).

Gratchic and Maloberti earned all-conference selections for the first time in their careers last November, as both were named Honorable Mention All-PAC. Gratchic totaled nine points on four goals and an assist. She scored the game-winner in Westminster's 1-0 victory over Franciscan on Oct. 4 and had the game-winner in a 2-1 win at Allegheny on Oct. 15. Maloberti started in each of Westminster's 18 matches last fall, posting a goal and two assists. She played a program-high 1,571 minutes last season.

Murphy captured PAC Defensive Player of the Year honors last November and was named First Team All-PAC for the third time in her career (2022-24). She was Westminster's second-straight PAC Defensive Player of the Year selection (Sophia Galietta, 2023). Murphy spearheaded Westminster's defensive effort that finished the year with five shutouts and limited its opponents to a 1.88 goals per game average. In nine PAC regular season appearances (8 starts) last year, Murphy went 8-0-1 with a 0.77 goals-against average (GAA). A College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District^® selection last fall, she was named a United Soccer Coaches All-Region selection last December. In 2023, Murphy claimed United Soccer Coaches All-America honors, securing a spot on the Third Team. In 51 career starts, she owns a 36-13-2 record while sporting a 1.00 GAA, an .841 save percentage and 13 shutouts.

Westminster opens its season at 4 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 29 in Cresson, Pa. at Mount Aloysius. The Titans begin conference play on Wednesday, Sept. 24 against Waynesburg. The league's regular season concludes Wednesday, Oct. 29 with the six-team PAC Championship Tournament scheduled to get underway Saturday, Nov. 1. The title match is slated for Saturday, Nov. 8.

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