2024 WAC MSOC Release Week 1

FINALLY TIME FOR THE 2024 SEASON TO START!
NCAA men’s soccer officially returns for 2024 with regular season matches beginning this week. All 10 WAC men’s soccer members are scheduled to compete, with eight conference teams in action on Aug. 22 for the season’s opening day.

SEATTLE U PREDICTED TO WIN THE WAC IN 2024
Seattle U received six first-place votes and 76 voting points to finish atop the preseason predicted order of finish based on polling of the WAC’s 10 men’s soccer head coaches. Defending conference champion California Baptist added three first-place votes and 72 points to check in second. New WAC men’s soccer member San Diego State (58 points), San José State (50 points) and UNLV (47 points) rounded out the top five teams in the predicted order of finish.

SJSU’S INIGUEZ VOTED PRESEASON OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR BY THE WAC’S HEAD COACHES
San José State junior midfielder Angel Iniguez was voted the 2024 WAC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year by the conference’s head coaches. Iniguez was a first-team all-conference midfield selection in 2023 after scoring seven goals and adding six assists over 17 matches to tie for fourth in the WAC with 20 points as a sophomore.

SDSU’S FISHER, SU’S LANPHIER ALSO RECOGNIZED
San Diego State sophomore defender Reid Fisher was tabbed the 2024 WAC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. Fisher captured Pac-12 Freshman of the Year honors and was tabbed as a College Soccer News Freshman All-America First-Team performer last season in his debut campaign with the Aztecs. Fisher started all 18 matches for San Diego State and helped anchor a back line that produced eight team clean sheets, including seven straight, to open the 2023 season. Seattle U redshirt junior Charlie Lanphier was chosen as the 2024 WAC Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year after a breakout showing for the Redhawks last season. Lanphier was voted the 2023 WAC Goalkeeper of the Year after logging a 10-3-2 record and a 1.11 goals against average over 16 matches.

RANKED TEAMS OUT OF THE GATE
WAC men’s soccer members are slated to face five foes who were either ranked or receiving votes in the season’s first United Soccer Coaches Top 25 poll during the opening week. Key matches include San José State traveling to No. 5 Stanford (Aug. 22), California Baptist on the road at No. 6 North Carolina (Aug. 25), Air Force at No. 10 SMU (Aug. 22) and No. 23 Seattle U at No. 19 Central Florida (Aug. 25).