Spartanburg, S.C. – Citadel senior Mariana Garcia has been named to the All-Southern Conference preseason team and was joined by teammate Ana Mesa on the all-league squad selected by College Sports Madness.
The SoCon head coaches also predicted the order of finish for the upcoming season, with the Bulldogs picked ninth. Furman edged Samford by one point for the top spot while defending regular season champion UNCG placed third.
Garcia is seeking to become a four-time All-SoCon selection after earning berths on the first team in 2010 and 2012 and a second-team nod in between. The forward/midfielder is coming off a junior season which saw her score 14 goals and 28 points to rank second on the Bulldog single-season list and among the national leaders in both categories.
The Bogota, Colombia, native ranked 11th in the country with an average of .778 goals per game and tied for 33rd with a mark of 1.56 points per contest. She scored at least one goal in 11 of the team's 18 games including three two-goal outings, with one coming in a 4-2 win over eventual SoCon tournament champion Georgia Southern.
During the course of her junior season she established new Citadel career records for goals (31), points (67) and game-winning goals (11).
Garcia is also an outstanding student, entering her senior year with a 3.71 grade point average as a double major in biology and psychology with aspirations of entering the medical profession.
Mesa has played in all 37 games with 36 starts her first two seasons at The Citadel. The midfielder from Cooper City, Fla., registered six assists last year, second on the Bulldog single-season list, and her seven career assists are tied for third.
She assisted on the opening goal in a 3-2 win over Charleston Southern and added another on a goal that produced a 1-1 tie against Elon.
Over the course of her career, Mesa has made the transition from defense to an attacking position, and she will be looked to as a goal-scoring threat this season.
The Bulldogs play a pair of exhibition games at Georgia on Friday and USC Upstate on Sunday before opening their regular season on Aug. 23 at Maryland.
