Green Hope won Conference 2 last season - despite tying Apex in the conference standings and head-to-head meetings. Because not all teams play Athens Drive twice, Tri-Nine officials only count one of each team's head-to-head meetings in Conference 2 towards the standings.

Green Hope won the one that counted.

Apex ended the regular season ranked No. 1 in the state and Green Hope No. 2. Both teams shared the same postseason fate - losing at Wilmington Hoggard.

Apex (14-2): The Cougars have gone 69-11 over the last four years and won three state championships. Cawley Bromley, a senior attacker, is a Virginia Tech recruit.

Kristi Marks, a Robert Morris commitment, scored 35 goals and had 37 assists in 2010 and leads a group of nine returning starters from a 14-2 club. Katie McLaughlin is committed to High Point. Senior goalie Asia Moore leads the defense.

Apex has gotten the season off to a roaring start by blowing out defending state champion Charlotte Catholic 18-2.

Athens Drive (10-6): The Lady Jaguars finished third in a tough Conference 3 behind Wakefield and Cardinal Gibbons. Returning for Athens are Sarah Odom, who had 44 goals and 28 assists, and Bianca Boieru, who had 15 goals and 15 assists in 2010.

Green Hope (15-2): The defending conference champions hired Ashley Ruppert to be their new head coach. Ruppert played on the 2004 state championship team and is currently fifth in school history for points in a career.

Leading the Lady Falcons this year will be Maggie Auslander and Rachel Chapla. Chapla scored 42 goals and had 25 assists last year.

Panther Creek (7-7): The Catamounts finished third in Conference 2 and narrowly missed a wild-card spot in the state playoffs. Rachel Ungaro was an all-conference pick as a freshman in 2010.