Fresno State Athletics
Bulldogs Picked to Finish Tenth in Mountain West
8/17/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
By Jason Kelm
jakelm@csufresno.edu
gobulldogs.com
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - A voting panel of the 12 Mountain West women's soccer head coaches chose three-time defending regular-season and tournament champion San Diego State as the favorite to win the 2015 MW regular-season title. Fresno State was chosen to finish tenth in the conference.
After a 4-16 record in 2014, Fresno State head coach Brian Zwaschka isn't surprised by the low ranking.
"We know that we underachieved last year," Zwaschka said. "It's up to us to take that as motivation and to adjust the necessary things to move up that ranking."
In order to accomplish that, Zwaschka has put together a challenging non-conference schedule to create high expectations for the players.
"The most exciting thing that we can do is start to compete against outside opponents," Zwaschka said. "We know that, realistically, we have a lot to learn, but we're also excited to show the differences that we've made so far in camp."
The Bulldogs faced No. 3 Stanford last Friday in an exhibition and will hold a red/white scrimmage tonight in preparation for their season opener against Duke and No. 7 North Carolina this weekend.
"The spirit has been tremendous and everybody has been fighting hard," Zwaschka said. "We feel like we've already seen signs of our new players really digesting the messages that we're trying to send and the returners have been instrumental in helping deliver those messages."
San Diego State collected nine first-place votes and 119 total points. Colorado College was second with 109 points and two first-place votes, while the 2014 Mountain West Women's Soccer Championship runner-up Wyoming finished third with 96 total points. New Mexico and Utah State each earned 82 points to finish tied for fourth. Boise State is sixth with 81 points and claimed one first-place vote. San José State and UNLV tied for seventh with 53 points, followed by Air Force (43 points) and Fresno State (34 points). Colorado State (23 points) and Nevada (17 points) rounded out the preseason rankings in 11th and 12th, respectively.
All 12 Mountain West institutions will be in action when regular season competition begins on Friday.
Fresno State's red/white scrimmage tonight is at 6 p.m. (PT) and open to the public at the Soccer and Lacrosse Field.
2015 MW PRESEASON WOMEN'S SOCCER COACHES' POLL
| Place | Team (1st Place votes) | Points |
| 1. | San Diego State (9) | 119 |
| 2. | Colorado College (2) | 109 |
| 3. | Wyoming | 96 |
| 4. | New Mexico | 82 |
| Utah State | 82 | |
| 6. | Boise State (1) | 81 |
| 7. | San Jose State | 53 |
| UNLV | 53 | |
| 9. | Air Force | 43 |
| 10. | Fresno State | 34 |
| 11. | Colorado State | 23 |
| 12. | Nevada | 17 |
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