Pac-12 Women’s Soccer is Back on the Pitch for the 2018 Season

• The 2018 Pac-12 women’s soccer regular season kicks off on Thursday, Aug. 16 with road matches for both USC and COLORADO. Nine Pac-12 teams play on Friday, Aug. 17, including four matches on Pac-12 Networks. UCLA, recently ranked No. 2 in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Poll, makes its debut at the new Wallis Annenberg Stadium against Long Beach State on Friday at 7 p.m. PT on Pac-12 Networks.  

• Four Pac-12 are schools ranked in the United Soccer Coaches preseason poll, tied for the second-most of any conference. Defending NCAA Champion STANFORD and runner-up UCLA snagged the No. 1 and No. 2 spots, respectively. USC grabbed a spot in the top 15 at No. 12 while WASHINGTON STATE landed at No. 21, marking the first time since 2010 the Cougars entered the season ranked.

• The Pac-12 has the most representatives on the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List with 12 student-athletes, the most from the Conference since eight were named in 2009. The MAC Hermann Trophy is the most prestigious individual award in college soccer, presented annually to one male and one female student-athlete. The watch list is headlined by last year’s MAC Hermann Trophy finalist Jessie Fleming of UCLA, and semifinalists Stanford’s Tierna Davidson and Catarina Macario, and UCLA’s Hailie Mace. Stanford leads the nation with five student-athletes on the 2018 watch list, including Davidson, Macario, Alana Cook, Tegan McGrady and Jaye Boissiere. The Conference is also represented by Taylor Korniek, Colorado; Savannah DeMelo and Ally Prisock, USC; Kaiya McCullough and Ashley Sanchez, UCLA.

• Last season, seven Pac-12 teams made the NCAA Tournament with Stanford earning a No. 1-overall seed for the fourth-straight year and was joined in the field by No. 2-seeded UCLA, No. 3-seeded USC, ARIZONA, Colorado, CALIFORNIA and Washington State. Six teams advanced to the second round and three made the Round of 16. Stanford was crowned the 2017 NCAA Champion for the second time in program history in the first-ever all-Pac-12 final against UCLA.

• With a 11-0-0 undefeated league record, the Cardinal captured it's 12th all-time Conference title in 2017. Stanford led the nation in scoring offense (3.67), goals (8), assists (87) and winning percentage (0.960) on its way to joining one of only five teams to win multiple College Cups.

• USC is looking to build on a 15-3-2 overall record and 8-2-1 Conference record from last season with a freshman class that is ranked No. 2 in the nation by Top Drawer Soccer, including U-20 National Team forward Penelope Hocking. Newcomers Natalie Jacobs and Alea Hyatt also have Youth National Team experience to add to the Trojan squad. 

• The incoming Pac-12 freshman class had the most selections of any conference on the Top Drawer Soccerpreseason Best XI Freshman team. Sophia Smith of Stanford, Summer Yates of WASHINGTON,Maricarmen Reyes of UCLA and Eva Van Deursen of ARIZONA STATE look to make their mark in their first season.

• The Pac-12 had eight teams ranked in the top 50 in NCAA RPI in non-conference play in 2017. This year across the league, there are seven non-conference matches against preseason top 25 teams.

• Pac-12 Networks coverage begins on the pitch with a 66-game women’s soccer schedule. Coverage commences on Friday, Aug. 17 with four home openers. All Pac-12 universities appear on the Networks at least seven times in 2018. 

UPCOMING SCHEDULE (Times local to site)

P12N/P12A/P12BA/P12LA/P12M/P12O/P12W - Indicates live broadcast on Pac-12 Network. MWN - Indicates live broadcast on Mountain West Network.