MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – For the third straight season, the No. 12-ranked West Virginia University women’s soccer team sits at No. 1 in the Big 12 Conference Soccer Preseason Poll.
The Mountaineers, the three-time defending Big 12 regular-season champions and two-time reigning postseason winners, have been picked to finish first by the league’s eight head coaches each season in the conference but their first (2012). WVU is the only current Big 12 member to score the top spot in three preseason polls; Texas A&M was ranked No. 1 seven times.
The Mountaineers sit atop the 2015 poll with 63 points, having received seven first-place votes. Coaches could not vote for their own teams.
“It’s always flattering to see West Virginia ranked No. 1 in any poll, and it’s exciting for my peers to bestow the ranking upon us,” said Mountaineer coach Nikki Izzo-Brown. “However, this team still has a lot to prove this season. Our goal is to finish No. 1 at the end of the season, too, and we need to work hard to make that happen.”
Big 12 Conference Preseason Poll
| Rank |
Team |
Points |
| 1. |
 |
West Virginia (7) |
63 |
| 2. |
 |
Texas Tech (2) |
55 |
| 3. |
 |
Oklahoma State |
46 |
| 4. |
 |
Kansas |
45 |
| 5. |
 |
Oklahoma |
38 |
| 6. |
 |
Texas |
28 |
| 7. |
 |
TCU |
22 |
| 8. |
 |
Baylor |
18 |
| 9. |
 |
Iowa State |
9 |
WVU shows a 21-1-2 record in Big 12 play and posted undefeated seasons in 2012 and 2014. Among the 15 returning Mountaineers are two-time reigning Big 12 Defender of the Year Kadeisha Buchanan and reigning Big 12 Newcomer of the Year Michaela Abam. Additionally, Izzo-Brown, the three-time reigning Big 12 Coach of the Year, returns for her 20th season with the Mountaineers. She is the only coach in conference history to win three straight postseason coach of the year honors.
In total, WVU returns seven All-Big 12 honorees from 2014: Buchanan, Abam, Ashley Lawrence, Kailey Utley, Hannah Steadman, Carla Portillo and Amandine Pierre-Louis.
Texas Tech received two first-place votes and sits at No. 2 with 55 points. The Red Raiders are the only Big 12 team in three seasons to earn a win against the Mountaineers. WVU trumped TTU, 4-2, in Morgantown in 2014.
Oklahoma State ranks No. 3 with 46 points, while Kansas follows at No. 4 with 45 points.
Oklahoma, the 2014 Big 12 Championship runner-up, ranks No. 5 with 38 points. Texas was picked sixth and TCU was slotted at No. 7. Baylor and Iowa State complete the poll.
The All-Big 12 Preseason Team will be announced tomorrow.
Additionally, TopDrawerSoccer.com released its 2015 Preseason Women’s Division I Top 100 List today, and Buchanan ranks No. 1. A two-time National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-American, Buchanan, a junior from Brampton, Ontario, takes the top spot following a busy summer that saw her start all five matches for Canada at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup and earn the tournament’s Best Young Player honor. She is a Missouri Athletic Club (MAC) Hermann Trophy candidate for the second straight season.
Lawrence, Buchanan’s classmate and Canadian teammate, ranks No. 32. The midfielder and Toronto native also started all five matches at the WWC and is a Hermann Trophy candidate.
Abam, a forward and Houston native, ranks No. 64.
