Cal No. 20 in NSCAA Preseason Poll; Third in Pac-12
NSCAA Preseason Poll
Pac-12 Release
BERKELEY – The University of California women’s soccer team checks in at No. 20 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/Continental Tire preseason rankings, while Pac-12 coaches tabbed the Golden Bears to finish third in the conference. UCLA was picked to win the Pac-12 title, while defending national champion North Carolina came out on top in the NSCAA rankings.
Cal jumped up one spot to No. 20 in the NSCAA rankings after finishing 2012 ranked No. 21 following a 16-6 overall record and second-round NCAA Tournament exit. The 2013 Blue and Gold squad will face three teams ranked in the NSCAA preseason poll during the regular season, with road matches against No. 16 Santa Clara on Thursday, Sept. 19 and No. 2 Stanford on Wednesday, Nov. 6 in the regular-season finale. The Golden Bears host No. 5 UCLA on Sunday, Oct. 13. Cal will also meet three opponents who received votes in the poll – Pepperdine (Monday, Aug. 26), Arizona State (Friday, Oct. 4) and USC (Friday, Oct. 11).
The Golden Bears received 99 points in the Pac-12 coaches poll, behind UCLA (117) and (115), and are again projected to finish third. Following an 8-3 conference performance last season, the Golden Bears finished third behind Stanford and UCLA just as the league’s coaches had predicted.
Cal returns battle-tested starters in 2012 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Ifeoma Onumonu and seniors Kaitlyn Fitzpatrick, Emi Lawson, Rachel Mercik, Genessee Daughtee and Emily Kruger, plus strong support from highly touted additions including freshmen Arielle Ship and Zoe Clark.
With the first game of the 2013-14 academic year, women’s soccer kicks off Cal’s athletic year Friday, Aug. 23 at UC Irvine at 7 p.m. The first home match will be held against Detroit on Friday, Aug. 30 at 4:30 p.m.
NSCAA Preseason Poll
| Rank | School | Prev. | W-L-T |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Carolina | 1 | 15-5-3 |
| 2 | Stanford | 3 | 21-2-1 |
| 3 | Florida State | 4 | 20-4-0 |
| 4 | Penn State | 2 | 21-4-2 |
| 5 | UCLA | 6 | 16-3-2 |
| 6 | BYU | 5 | 20-2-2 |
| 7 | Duke | 8 | 15-6-2 |
| 8 | Virginia | 10 | 16-5-1 |
| 9 | Florida | 8 | 19-5-1 |
| 10 | Notre Dame | 13 | 16-6-2 |
| 11 | San Diego State | 7 | 21-2-1 |
| 12 | Texas A&M | 14 | 19-5-1 |
| 13 | Baylor | 11 | 19-1-5 |
| 14 | Marquette | 12 | 18-2-3 |
| 15 | Wake Forest | 15 | 14-6-3 |
| 16 | Santa Clara | 18 | 12-4-6 |
| 17 | Maryland | 16 | 14-7-2 |
| 18 | Georgetown | 17 | 16-4-3 |
| 19 | Michigan | 19 | 16-5-3 |
| 20 | California | 21 | 16-6-0 |
| 21 | UCF | 20 | 17-5-2 |
| 22 | Portland | 24 | 11-5-5 |
| 23 | Ohio State | 23 | 16-4-2 |
| 24 | Texas Tech | 25 | 16-6-1 |
| 25 | Denver | 22 | 17-3-4 |
2012 final record and ranking shown.
Also receiving votes: Tennessee 48, Pepperdine 37, Illinois 31, West Virginia 29, Boston College 28, USC 15, Auburn 15, Virginia Tech 10, Miami (Ohio) 8, Missouri 2, Stephen F. Austin 1, Kentucky 1, LSU 1, Dartmouth 1, Arizona State 1
Bold denotes team Cal will face in 2013 regular season
Pac-12 Coaches Poll
| 1. | UCLA (7) | 117 |
| 2. | Stanford (5) | 115 |
| 3. | California | 99 |
| 4. | Washington | 77 |
| 5. | Arizona State | 74 |
| 6. | Oregon State | 70 |
| Washington State | 70 | |
| 8. | USC | 65 |
| 9. | Utah | 37 |
| 10. | Colorado | 27 |
| 11. | Oregon | 21 |
| 12. | Arizona | 15 |