COLORADO SPRINGS -- In a vote by the league's coaches, BYU was selected to finish second in the 2005 Mountain West Conference women's soccer regular-season championship in the preseason poll released yesterday by the conference office.
Utah, which received seven first-place votes and collected a total of 49 points, was selected to win the regular-season championship. BYU picked up the final first-place vote.
San Diego State, which fell in the MWC Soccer Championship final last year to the Utes, tied BYU for second place in the poll with 39 points. Last year's regular-season champion UNLV was picked fourth (31 points), while newcomer TCU was fifth (21 points), Wyoming was sixth (18 points), New Mexico was seventh (16 points) and Air Force was eighth (11 points).
After winning the title outright in 2003, the Utes finished fourth last year. However, Utah won the MWC tournament title last year in a shootout over San Diego State. Utah and UNLV both represented the MWC at the NCAA Tournament in 2004, the first-ever trip for the Lady Rebels. Utah, which finished with a 13-6-3 last season, return all-MWC first-team selection Amanda Feigt and 10 starters in all. San Diego State returns 12 letterwinners and six starters, while BYU welcomes ten of 11 starters back, including First Team All-MWC selections Jaime Rendich Beck and Claire Thomas. The 2005 MWC Women's Soccer Championship takes place on the campus of UNLV, Nov. 2-5.
Preseason Women's Soccer Coaches' Poll
School (First-place votes) -- Points
1. Utah (7) -- 49
2. BYU (1) -- 39
San Diego State -- 39
4. UNLV -- 31
5. TCU -- 21
6. Wyoming -- 18
7. New Mexico -- 16
8. Air Force -- 11