Aug. 9, 2017
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State women's soccer for the fifth straight year will start the campaign as the coaches' preseason pick to win the Mountain West title in 2017. The league released its coaches' poll Wednesday morning.
"It's nice to be well-regarded by the coaches in our conference, and we certainly know where our team and program expectations are, but the only standings that matter are at the end of the season," SDSU head coach Mike Friesen said. "Our focus continues to be on doing the work each day to get better and put ourselves in a position to compete for the conference title."
The Aztecs earned three first-place votes and 110 points overall to sit atop rankings, edging San José State, which also had three first-place considerations and 108 points. This is the second straight year the two teams have finished 1-2 in the preseason poll.
Checking in at No. 3 is UNLV with five first-place votes and 101 points, and comes after the Rebels tied SDSU in the 2016 Mountain West final, but advanced on penalty kicks. Utah State received the last first-place tally and came in fourth place with 97 points.
The rest of the poll is as follows: Wyoming (5th place; 70 points), Fresno State (6th; 66), Boise State (7th; 64), New Mexico (8th; 61), Colorado College (9th; 43), Air Force (10th; 37), Colorado State (11th; 20), Nevada (12th; 15).
The Aztecs enter 2017 having won four of the last five Mountain West regular-season titles and seven of the last 10 MW trophies overall (regular season and tournament). San Diego State has also appeared in the last five conference championship games, going 3-0-2 in the process.
SDSU will take the first step toward living up to its preseason league ranking on Saturday when it faces Cal State Fullerton in a road exhibition game. Game time is slated for 5 p.m. PT.
2017 MW PRESEASON WOMEN'S SOCCER COACHES' POLL
Pl. Team (1st place votes) - Points
1. San Diego State (3) - 110
2. San José State (3) - 108
3. UNLV (5) - 101
4. Utah State (1) - 97
5. Wyoming - 70
6. Fresno State - 66
7. Boise State - 64
8. New Mexico - 61
9. Colorado College - 43
10. Air Force - 37
11. Colorado State - 20
12. Nevada - 15