The UCLA women's soccer team will begin the season ranked No. 4 in the United Soccer Coaches preseason poll and No. 2 in the Pac-12 preseason coaches poll.
The Bruins advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals a year ago, falling just short of a second-straight College Cup after a penalty kick shootout at North Carolina. UCLA returns 10 starters from last year's squad that went 17-3-2 and ended the season unbeaten in its last 13 games. Returning starters include 2019 World Cup players Jessie Fleming and Teagan Micah, 2018 first-team All-American and MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist Ashley Sanchez, All-Pacific Region honoree Karina Rodriguez and All-Pac-12 honorees Viviana Villacorta, Anika Rodriguez and Delanie Sheehan. The Bruins also gained the services of defender Lucy Parker, who was a third-team All-American at LSU a year ago, and freshman midfielder Mia Fishel, who started for the U.S. at the 2018 Under-17 World Cup.
UCLA will play a highly-competitive schedule in 2019, facing three of the Top 5 preseason ranked teams in No. 1 Florida State on Aug. 29 at Banc of California Stadium, No. 3 Stanford on the road Oct. 19, and No. 5 USC at home on Nov. 8. The Bruins will also play at No. 13 Santa Clara on Sept. 5 and host No. 16 Wisconsin on Sept. 14.
The Bruins begin the season on Friday, Aug. 16 with an exhibition contest at 7pm against Loyola Marymount at Wallis Annenberg Stadium. Admission is free. The 2019 season officially kicks off on Friday, Aug. 23 with a 7pm matchup against Iowa State. Tickets to UCLA regular season home matches are on sale now at uclabruins.com/tickets.
2019 United Soccer Coaches NCAA Preseason Poll
1. Florida State (33 first place votes) – 870
2. North Carolina – 821
3. Stanford (1) – 808
4. UCLA – 748
5. USC – 700
6. Penn State (1) – 678
7. Georgetown – 676
8. Duke – 619
9. Virginia – 571
10. Tennessee – 501
11. West Virginia – 482
12. Texas A&M – 477
13. Santa Clara – 447
14. Baylor – 417
15. South Carolina – 383
16. Wisconsin – 283
17. Vanderbilt – 274
18. South Florida – 188
19. Texas – 180
20. Memphis – 142
21. North Carolina State – 140
22. Texas Tech – 102
23. Wake Forest – 100
24. LSU – 78
25. Virginia Tech – 76
2019 Pac-12 Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Stanford (7 first place votes) – 117
2. UCLA (5) – 113
3. USC – 102
4. Washington State – 88
5. Colorado – 77
6. California – 66
7. Arizona – 58
8. Utah – 48
9. Arizona State – 43
10. Washington – 36
11. Oregon – 32
12. Oregon State – 12