Pac-12 women's soccer kicks off 2021 season

SAN FRANCISCO - Pac-12 women’s soccer is back on the pitch on Thursday, Aug. 19 to kick off the 2021 season with 11 of the league's 12 teams in action.

• Four Pac-12 teams are in the 2021 United Soccer Coaches preseason top 25. Reigning Conference champ UCLA checks in at No. 5 spot, while USC and WASHINGTON are No. 14 and No. 19, respectively. STANFORD came in at No. 24. 
• The Missouri Athletic Club named six Pac-12 student-athletes to the 2021 MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List on Thursday. The most prestigious individual award in college soccer is presented annually to the most outstanding male and female players of the year. UCLA and USC each have two players on the list in senior goalkeeper Lauren Brzykcy (UCLA), junior forward Mia Fishel (UCLA), graduate student midfielder Savannah DeMelo (USC) and senior forward Penelope Hocking (USC). STANFORD senior defender Naomi Girma and WASHINGTON senior midfielder Summer Yates round out the Pac-12 representation on the list. 
• Last season, five Pac-12 teams earned postseason berths, the Conference's 21st consecutive season with at least that many NCAA Tournament teams. Four at-large programs joined regular-season Pac-12 champion UCLA, which secured the Conference’s automatic bid with a 9-1-1 league mark. UCLA entered the tournament as the No. 3 seed, USC had a first-round bye as the No. 8 seed, and ARIZONA STATE, COLORADO and WASHINGTON also secured at-large bids. 
• UCLA is looking to continue its run as it enters the season at the top of the 2021 Pac-12 Preseason Coaches Poll. The Bruins, which won their first Pac-12 title since 2014 last season, collected seven first-place votes and totaled 116 points to top the preseason coaches poll. UCLA’s dominant  2020 campaign included seven Pac-12 Player of the Week honors and a points per game mark of 2.5.
• The league's teams will be featured 88 times this season across Pac-12 Networks and the new, free streaming channel, Pac-12 Insider. On opening night, Colorado State at COLORADO will be carried on Pac-12 Network and Pac-12 Mountain, and UC Irvine at UCLA will be broadcast on Pac-12 Los Angeles. The Aug. 19 Pepperdine at USC and Fresno State at OREGON matches can be seen on Pac-12 Insider. For a complete schedule, visit pac-12.com/womens-soccer/schedule.