BYU Selected as Preseason Favorite

COLORADO SPRINGS -- In a vote by the league's coaches, BYU was selected to win the 2010 Mountain West Conference women's soccer title in the preseason poll released today.

The Cougars collected 48 points and six first-place votes to secure the top spot in the poll. San Diego State and Utah each collected 37 points to share second place and also earned one first-place vote apiece. TCU and New Mexico were picked to finish in fourth and fifth place with 35 and 24 points, respectively. Wyoming was predicted to finish sixth (21 points), while UNLV (15 points) and Air Force (7 points) rounded out the preseason rankings.

Last season, BYU earned its sixth all-time MWC regular-season championship by posting a 6-0-1 mark in Conference play. The Cougars finished the 2009 campaign with an 18-4-2 record and made their 12th postseason appearance with an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The squad returns 14 letterwinners and eight starters, including all-MWC first-team selections Kassidy Shumway, McKinzie Olson and Carlee Payne, the 2009 MWC Freshman of the Year.

All eight MWC women's soccer teams will begin regular-season competition on Aug. 20.

2010 MWC PRESEASON WOMEN'S SOCCER
COACHES' POLL
 
Pl. Team (1st place votes)   Points
 
1.  BYU (6)                      48
 
T2. San Diego State (1)          37
 
T2. Utah (1)                     37
 
4. TCU                           35
 
5. New Mexico                    24
 
6. Wyoming                       21
 
7. UNLV                          15
 
8. Air Force                     7