UC San Diego Picked to Repeat as CCAA Champs in 2017
SAN RAMON – According to a poll of league coaches, the reigning California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) regular season and tournament champion UC San Diego is this year’s favorite to capture the 2017 women’s soccer title.
The Tritons received 12 first-place votes with 144 points to top second-ranked Sonoma State, as the Seawolves totaled 128 points.
Cal Poly Pomona, which was picked to finish third with 104 points, edged out the No. 4 ranked Cal State LA at 103 points. In 2016, the Golden Eagles finished as the CCAA Tournament runner-up.
In the fifth and sixth spots of the 2017 preseason poll, Chico State narrowly topped Stanislaus State with a 98 to 97 tally.
Cal State San Bernardino (95) led the second half of the standings, followed by Cal State San Marcos (64) and San Francisco State (64) tied for the No. 8 spot, and Cal State Dominguez Hills (37) at No. 9. Rounding out the final three spots are Cal State East Bay (30), Humboldt State (27), and Cal State Monterey Bay (23).
UCSD closed out the 2016 campaign with a 19-3 record, reaching the West Region title game before falling to eventual national champion Western Washington. For CCAA Coach of the Year Brian McManus’ squad, the Tritons’ impressive season featured a 16-game winning streak.
Heading into the 2017 campaign, UCSD returns four All-CCAA First Team selections – Katie O’Laughlin, Mary Reilly, Jordyn McNutt and Makenzie Brito. O’Laughlin finished 2016 as the West Region and CCAA scoring champion with 16 goals and 41 points while earning the conference’s Offensive Player of the Year title.
The Seawolves of Sonoma State went 12-3-3 last year, finishing second in the CCAA with a 10-1-1 mark and appearing in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in the last five years. Junior midfielder Miriam Bloom returns for SSU as an All-CCAA First Team honoree in 2016. Bloom netted two goals last year and added six assists.
CPP was predicted to finish sixth in the 2016 preseason poll but ended up earning the No. 4 spot with a record of 7-7-3. The Broncos’ 2017 squad, picked to finish third in the CCAA, will be led by a pair of juniors in Sydney Yates and Natalie Di Angelo.
Ranked at No. 4 in the preseason poll, Cal State L.A. has several key returning players, including goalkeeper Adriana Maldonado, midfielder Victoria Arredondo, defender Tatiana Zuvic and forward Anahie Duran. All four of those student-athletes earned CCAA Honorable Mention last year.
The
2017 Women’s Soccer Tournament will continue its six-team format with first round contests played at campus sites. Play is schedule to begin Tuesday, Oct. 31 at campus sites. Semifinal and Final rounds will be held at Triton Stadium in La Jolla and are set for Friday, Nov. 3 and Sunday, Nov. 5, respectively. The winner of the Women’s Soccer Tournament will earn the Conference’s automatic bid to the 2017 NCAA Division II West Regional.
UCSD begins its 2017 campaign ranked 10th in the
United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division II Preseason national rankings, while Sonoma State holds the No. 22 spot nationally.
Regular season play begins on Thurs., Aug. 31 with nine of the 13 teams in action. Stanislaus State and Cal State San Marcos will kickoff CCAA play on Friday, Sept. 15 with a 12:30 p.m. kickoff.
| 2017 CCAA Women's Soccer Coaches Preseason Poll |
| Rank |
Institution |
Points (first-place votes) |
| 1. |
UC San Diego |
144 (12) |
| 2. |
Sonoma State |
128 |
| 3. |
Cal Poly Pomona |
104 (1) |
| 4. |
Cal State LA |
103 |
| 5. |
Chico State |
98 |
| 6. |
Stanislaus State |
97 |
| 7. |
Cal State San Bernardino |
95 |
| t-8. |
Cal State San Marcos |
64 |
| t-8. |
San Francisco State |
64 |
| 10. |
Cal State Dominguez Hills |
37 |
| 11. |
Cal State East Bay |
30 |
| 12. |
Humboldt State |
27 |
| 13. |
Cal State Monterey Bay |
23 |