San Diego, Calif. – By a vote of the Mountain West Conference's 12 women's head soccer coaches, the San Diego State Aztecs have been picked to finish fourth in its preseason poll. This marks the first time in 10 seasons the Aztecs have been picked to finish lower than second place and snaps a six-year run of being the favorite in the eyes of the conference's head coaches. The last time SDSU was lower than second place in the preseason poll was at the beginning of the 2009 season, a year in which the team went 15-4-5, was undefeated in the Mountain West (5-0-2) and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Last year's regular season co-champion, Boise State, earned 109 points and received four first-place votes to sit atop the preseason table. San Jose State, which won the Mountain West Championship Tournament title in 2018, had three first-place votes and 105 points to slot in second place. New Mexico also received three first-place votes and totaled 104 points good for third place with the Aztecs listed as fourth in the table with 96 points and two-first place votes.
UNLV and Wyoming were tied for fifth place with 70 votes. Fresno State was seventh (62 points) followed by Colorado College (59 points), Utah State (40 points) and Colorado State (33 points) rounding out the top-10. Air Force was 11th with 29 points and Nevada was predicted to finish in 12th with 15 points.
Despite missing the conference tournament last season, the first time in the program has failed to compete in the event in Friesen's 12 seasons, the Aztecs enter 2019 having won four of the last seven Mountain West regular-season titles and eight of the last 13 MW trophies overall (regular season and tournament).
SDSU brings back eight starters and 13-of-17 letter winners from last season, including midfielder Laura Fuentes, the 2018 Mountain West Newcomer of the Year. The Newark, Calif., native was also a second-team All-MW selection and a member of the conference's All-Newcomer Team. With four players, sophomores Fuentes and forward Taylor Moorehead, junior midfielder Phoebe Leitch and senior striker Darcy Weiser, each tallying three goals, the Aztecs spread the wealth on offense. Twelve different players found the back of the net last season and 10 of those 12 are back in 2019, as are 19 of the squads 21 goals from a year ago.
The Aztecs season gets underway on Friday, August 16, when they welcome Washington State to SDSU Sports Deck for an exhibition match. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. and admission is free.
The regular-season opener, the first of four consecutive home games, is Thursday, August 22 against Texas Tech and the homestand continues Sunday, August 25 against LIU. Start times for the matches are scheduled for 7:00 p.m. and 12:00 p.m., respectively.
2019 Mountain West Preseason Coaches' Poll
Team (1st place votes) – Points
1. Boise State (4) – 109
2. San Jose State (3) – 105
3. New Mexico (3) – 104
4. San Diego State (2) – 96
5. UNLV – 70
Wyoming – 70
7. Fresno State – 62
8. Colorado College – 59
9. Utah State – 40
10. Colorado State – 33
11. Air Force – 29
12. Nevada – 15