SAN BRUNO, California — BYU women’s soccer was picked to win its third-straight West Coast Conference title today in the annual WCC Preseason Coaches Poll.
The preseason poll was selected by a vote of the conference's 10 head coaches, who were not allowed to vote for their own team. BYU received the highest possible score in the poll with nine first-place votes and 81 total points.
Santa Clara was second with 73 points and one first-place vote, while Pepperdine (65 points), Gonzaga (54) and Portland (45) rounded out the top five. The second half includes San Francisco (45), San Diego (30), LMU (23), Saint Mary’s (19) and Pacific (12).
“Winning the conference championship is one of our team goals each year,” BYU women’s head soccer coach Jennifer Rockwood said. “We had some great players graduate last year, but I like our team. We have a lot of young talent, skilled returnees and great leadership. We’re anxious to get on the field.”
BYU is coming off an historic 2019 campaign that saw the Cougars earn a 21-1-1 overall record, a second-consecutive West Coast Conference Championship and a quarterfinal appearance in the NCAA tournament. The lone loss of the season came on the road against No. 1 ranked Stanford in the NCAA quarterfinals. The Cardinal went on to win the College Cup.
The Cougars return 2019 WCC Player of the Year Mikayla Colohan who accounted for 16 goals and seven assists a season ago. Colohan was recently selected by the Orlando Pride with the 14th overall pick in the 2021 National Women's Soccer League Draft. She was also named to the Hermann Trophy watch list for the upcoming season.
Senior forward Cameron Tucker also returns after registering 12 goals and nine assists in 2019. The Cougars lost seven seniors but return five who started games in 2019.
The BYU opens the unique 2020-21 soccer season on Saturday, Jan. 30, against in-state foe Weber State. The exhibition match will be played at Zions Bank Real Academy in Herriman, Utah and will be broadcast live at 5:05 p.m. MST on BYUtv.
2020-21 WCC Women’s Soccer Preseason Coaches Poll
| Team (No. 1 votes) | Points |
| BYU (9) | 81 |
| Santa Clara (1) | 73 |
| Pepperdine | 65 |
| Gonzaga | 54 |
| Portland | 48 |
| San Francisco | 45 |
| San Diego | 30 |
| LMU | 23 |
| Saint Mary's | 19 |
| Pacific | 12 |