ARLINGTON, Texas – San Diego State, the regular season champion last season, was selected as the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) preseason favorite in the 2025 WAC Men’s Soccer Preseason Coaches Poll that was released on Friday.

San Diego State received four first-place votes to finish atop the preseason predicted order of finish based on polling of the WAC’s eight men’s soccer head coaches. California Baptist added three first-place votes to check in second, followed by San José State (one first-place vote), UNLV and Utah Valley rounding out the top five teams in the predicted order of finish.

San José State senior midfielder Angel Iniguez, the reigning conference offensive player of the year, was tabbed as the 2025 WAC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year by the conference’s head coaches. Iniguez was a first-team all-conference midfield selection for a second straight season in 2024 after scoring 10 goals and adding seven assists over 19 matches to share the WAC lead with 27 points as a junior. Iniguez was particularly stellar in conference matches during his player of the year campaign, scoring six goals and adding four assists for a WAC-high 16 points in just seven league starts during the 2024 regular season.

San Diego State sophomore defender Cianole Nguepissi was voted the 2025 WAC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. Nguepissi was a WAC All-Freshman Team selection in 2024 after making 15 appearances (12 starts) on the back line for the Aztecs, contributing two assists while competing in seven team clean sheets. The San Diego State defense featuring Nguepissi ranked second in the WAC last season in shutouts and in fewest goals allowed (22), slotting in with the third fewest shots on goal allowed (79) across all competitions.

Utah Tech senior Stockton Short was selected as the 2025 WAC Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year. Short led all conference goalkeepers with 105 saves and 5.83 saves per match across 18 starts in all competitions last season, registering the second-highest WAC save percentage at .784 after facing a league-high 134 shots on frame in 2024. Short and Utah Tech competed in 15 matches decided by one goal or less a year ago, earning a result in eight such contests.

San Diego State led all WAC teams with three players voted onto the 2025 preseason all-conference team, with two players each from California Baptist, Grand Canyon, San José State and Utah Tech.

2025 WAC Men’s Soccer Preseason Coaches Poll (as voted by WAC head coaches)
 

Rank	Team (1st-Place Votes)	Points
1.	San Diego State (4)	44
2.	California Baptist (3)	39
3.	San José State (1)	35
4.	UNLV	27
	Utah Valley	27
6.	Grand Canyon	26
7.	Air Force	14
8.	Utah Tech	12

2025 WAC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year (as voted by WAC head coaches)
Angel Iniguez, Sr., MF, San José State

2025 WAC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year (as voted by WAC head coaches)
Cianole Nguepissi, So., D, San Diego State

2025 WAC Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year (as voted by WAC head coaches)
Stockton Short, Sr., Utah Tech

2025 Preseason All-WAC Team (as voted by WAC head coaches)
GK – Stockton Short, Sr., Utah Tech
D – Cianole Nguepissi, So., San Diego State
D – Tristan Viviani, Sr., San Diego State
D – Niklas Dossmann, Sr., San José State
D – Keegan Oyler, R-Jr., Utah Valley
MF – Stavros Charalampous, Jr., California Baptist
MF – Jorge Lopez, Jr., Grand Canyon
MF – Angel Iniguez, Sr., San José State
F – Blake D’Agostino, So., California Baptist
F – Ben Assane, Grad, Grand Canyon
F – Terence Okoeguale, Sr., San Diego State
F – Samir Cuevas, Jr., Utah Tech