IRVING, Texas — BYU women’s soccer was picked to finish first in the Big 12 conference for the second year in a row, as voted on by the league’s 16 coaches.
The Cougars received nine first place votes and a total of 206. Texas Tech came in at second with six first place votes and 205 total votes. TCU had one first place vote, with 197 total votes to come in third in the conference. Colorado and Arizona State rounded out the top five teams in the preseason poll with 174 and 157 votes, respectively.
View the full Big 12 press release at the conference's website.
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2024 Big 12 Soccer Preseason Poll |
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|
Place |
Team |
Votes (First Place) |
|
1 |
BYU |
206 (9) |
|
2 |
Texas Tech |
205 (6) |
|
3 |
TCU |
197 (1) |
|
4 |
Colorado |
174 |
|
5 |
Arizona State |
157 |
|
6 |
UCF |
151 |
|
7 |
West Virginia |
149 |
|
8 |
Oklahoma State |
145 |
|
9 |
Baylor |
100 |
|
10 |
Arizona Utah |
94 |
|
12 |
Cincinnati Kansas |
67 |
|
14 |
Houston |
61 |
|
15 |
Iowa State |
31 |
|
16 |
Kansas State |
22 |
Coming off their second College Cup appearance, the Cougars are gearing up for another year in the Big 12 Conference. During their first season in the new conference, the Cougars had an overall record of 20-3-3, going undefeated in conference play at 7-0-3. BYU finished its 2023 season ranked No. 4 and made a run to the NCAA College Cup, falling to Stanford 2-0 in the semi final match.
With nine starters graduating last year, BYU returns two starters in junior forward Allie Fryer and sophomore goalkeeper Lynette Hernaez.
The Cougars welcome eight new freshmen after losing 11 seniors last season: Ella Labrum, Abbi Sine, Mika Krommenhoek, Paiton Collins, Sommer Nestman, Lucy Kesler, Presley Freeman and Emma Hamberlin.
BYU also welcomes four transfers in Mia Curry, Savannah Hansen, MacKenzee Vance and Mattyn Summers.
Summers, a sophomore transfer from St. Louis, just returned home from serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Puebla, Mexico North mission. She is joined by Abbie Kotter who is returning to action after her 18-month mission in Lisbon, Portugal.
The Cougars will take the pitch for their final exhibition game on South Field against Wyoming on Friday, Aug. 9 at 7 p.m. MT. BYU’s Big 12 schedule will begin at home against Big 12 newcomer Arizona State on Thursday, Sept. 12 at 7 p.m.