United Athletic Conference

 

Kansas City was picked to top the 2018 WAC women's soccer standings in the preseason selection by the league's head coaches. Kansas City also claimed the Preseason Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year in Lexie Howard and Abby Small, respectively. The league's head coaches selected these honors and could not vote for their own student-athlete.

 

After winning the regular season title in 2017, Kansas City claimed first in the 2018 preseason rankings with five first-place votes and 60 total points. 2017 tournament champion Utah Valley was just behind, snagging four first-place votes and 57 points. Seattle U was voted third with 50 points while Grand Canyon was selected fourth with 38. UT Rio Grande Valley was one point behind grabbing fifth. Named sixth, NM State earned 30 points followed by CSU Bakersfield, California Baptist, and Chicago State.

 

Spread amongst five teams, 11 student-athletes were named to the preseason all-conference team. UMKC added their third preseason selection in forward Kelsey Mothershead and their fourth in midfielder Reighan Childers. Utah Valley claimed honors at three different positions. Midfielder Amber Tripp, defender Hannah Bruce, and goalkeeper Brooklyn Nielsen all represented the Wolverines. Defenders Hannah Carrothers and Rachel Bowler were named from Seattle U. NM State's Aileen Galicia picked up the remaining forward spot while midfielder McKenzie Cook, represented Grand Canyon. 

 

Each WAC team will play a single round robin format of seven matches vs. conference opponents. Conference play will begin on Friday Sept. 28 and continue through Oct. 27. Teams will get three points for a win and one point for a tie during WAC matches. 

 

The WAC Women's Soccer Tournament will be held in Orem, Utah, Oct. 31, Nov. 2 and 4, hosted by Utah Valley.  The top six eligible teams will participate. 

 

California Baptist officially joins the WAC for 2018-2019 competition and has begin their four year transition process to Division 1. This will make them ineligible to compete in post season tournaments (WAC and NCAA) until the 2022-2023 season. They join the WAC after previously being a member of the Pacific West Conference  where they won six championships (M&W Cross Country, M&W Soccer, Volleyball, and W. Golf) this past 2017-2018 season. 

 

Headed into 2018, all but one team returns the majority of starters. Five teams return eight, including CSU Bakersfield who also returns 20 letter winners. Grand Canyon lost the most starters with six but brings in 12 newcomers. 2017 tournament champions, Utah Valley, return eight starters and 12 letter winners overall. The 2018 preseason coaches poll favorite, Kansas City, lost just three starters and seven letter winners.  

 

 

WAC teams will play in 12 matches against teams that played in the NCAA Tournament last year. Three matches hosted by WAC schools will be available to stream on the WAC Digital Network at www.wacsports.com/watch.

 

 

Aug. 17 CSU Bakersfield at Eastern Washington – 7 p.m. PT

Aug. 17 Seattle U at Washington State – 7 p.m. PT

Aug. 17 Utah Valley at California – 3 p.m. PT

Aug. 17 NM State at San Diego State – 7 p.m. PT

Aug. 19 Seattle U at Eastern Washington – 1 p.m. PT

Aug. 19 Grand Canyon at Washington State – 1 p.m. PT

Aug. 31 Utah Valley at San Diego – 3 p.m. PT

Sep. 2 Kansas City vs Missouri State – 1 p.m. CT, (WDN)

Sept. 13 Utah Valley at Colorado – 3:30 p.m. MT

Sep. 14 UT Rio Grande Valley at Texas – 6 p.m. CT

Sep. 16 Kansas City vs Oklahoma State, 1 p.m. CT (WDN)

 

 

The 37th Annual Women's College Cup will be held at Wakamed Soccer Park, Cary, N.C., Nov. 30 and Dec. 2.  Last year's WAC champs, Utah Valley, fell short in their 2017 first round match up against Stanford. The Wolverines were defeated 9-1 by the 2017 National Champions.

 

 

COLLEGE CUP DATES

First Round (64)

Nov. 9-11, 2018

On campus sites TBD

 

Second Round (32)

Nov. 16, 2018

On campus sites TBD

 

Third Round (16)

Nov. 18, 2017

On campus sites TBD

 

Quarterfinals (8)

Nov. 23-24, 2017

On campus sites TBD

 

Women's College Cup

Nov. 30 and Dec. 2, 2018

Wakemed Soccer Park

Cary, N.C.

 

The WAC Digital Network will broadcast over 60 games this season including all five games of the 2018 WAC Women's Soccer Tournament in Orem, Utah.