SAN DIEGO – By a vote of the Mountain West Conference's 12 women's head soccer coaches, the San Diego State Aztecs have been predicted to finish the 2023 regular season in second place. The announcement was made at the conference office in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on Wednesday.
San Diego State has been predicted to finish either first or second in the preseason poll in 13 of the last 14 years and enters this season as the most decorated program in the Mountain West with six regular-season and five tournament titles, as well as seven NCAA appearances.
The Aztecs received a total of 98 points and four first-place votes, while Wyoming, who won a share of the Mountain West regular season title in 2022, earned the top spot with 100 points and four first-place votes. New Mexico came in third with 97 points and one first-place vote, followed in fourth by San Jose State, who won the MW tournament last season, with 92 points and three first-place votes. Rounding out the top half of the table were Utah State in fifth with 91 points and Boise State in sixth place with 86 points.
The bottom half is expected to complete the regular season in the following order. Colorado in seventh with 53 points, Colorado College in eighth (50 points), then UNLV in ninth (35 points), then Air Force (33 points), Fresno State (31 points), and Nevada (26 points).
The Aztecs bring back eight starters from last season, including all-MW first-team members Emma Gaines-Ramos and Denise Castro, second-team selection Kiera Utush, and all-MW newcomers team member Grace Goins. Gaines-Ramos scored a career-high six goals and added another seven assists, while Castro hauled in a career-high and team-leading seven goals to go along with four assists in 2022. Utush and Goins started every match at centerback together in 2022, and played a team-high 1,910 minutes each. Additionally, keeper Alexa Madueno returns between the posts for SDSU, and is already in the SDSU record book in multiple categories. Madueno is fifth all-time in career saves with 202, eighth all-time in goals-against average at 1.29, and is sixth in career shutouts with 17.
Overall, 12 players scored the Aztecs' 28 goals last season. Eight of them are back in 2023 and account for 22 of the team's tallies from last season. In addition, seven of the 11 players that produced the squads 24 assists are back.
The Aztecs' regular season gets underway on Thursday, August 17, when SDSU hosts Sacred Heart on the SDSU Sports Deck. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. PT, and the game will be streamed on the Mountain West Network.
2023 Mountain West Preseason Women's Soccer Coaches' Poll
Pl. Team (1st place votes) Points
1. Wyoming (4) 100
2. San Diego State (4) 98
3. New Mexico (1) 97
4. San José State (3) 92
5. Utah State 91
6. Boise State 86
7. Colorado State 53
8. Colorado College 50
9. UNLV 35
10. Air Force 33
11. Fresno State 31
12. Nevada 26