Mozingo, Shepherd and Vaka Named to Preseason All-Big 12 Team

IRVING, Texas — BYU women’s soccer seniors Brecken Mozingo, Jamie Shepherd and Laveni Vaka were named to the Preseason All-Big 12 Team, the league announced Wednesday. 

The Cougars joined eight others on the 11-player team voted on by the conference's 14 coaches, with the Cougars among six schools that had at least one student-athlete recognized. View the full Big 12 release at the league's website.

*Unanimous selection

Vaka is a two-time NCAA All-West Region First Team honoree, 2022 MAC Hermann Trophy candidate, 2022 All-WCC First Team selection and the 2022 WCC Defender of the Year.

The Sandy, Utah native played and started in all 21 games during the 2022 season, posting the most minutes of any BYU player on the season with 1,832 minutes. She also recorded one assist and five shots as a center back.

Shepherd is a two-time All-WCC First Team honoree, 2022 MAC Hermann Trophy candidate and the 2022 WCC Midfielder of the Year.

The American Fork, Utah native has played and started in every game over the last four seasons as a Cougar, tallying over 7,000 minutes on the pitch. She tallied seven goals, five assists and 45 shots during the 2022 season.

Mozingo is a 2022 All-WCC First Team honoree and 2022 Second Team All-American. With 5.78 shots per game last season, she was ranked No. 1 nationally in shots per game.

With a team-high 12 goals, 10 assists and 109 shots during the 2022 campaign, Mozingo found herself in BYU’s all-time record book. She is now ranked No. 2 in most shots in a season. With three multi-goal games in 2022, Mozingo is also tied for fourth-most multi-goal games amongst all Cougars.

The Cougars will take the pitch for an exhibition game in New Brunswick, New Jersey against Rutgers on Thursday, Aug. 10 at 7 p.m. ET. BYU’s Big 12 schedule will begin at home against TCU on Thursday, Sept. 14 at 7 p.m.