Ogden, Utah (August 6, 2015) – The Big Sky soccer coaches have selected Northern Arizona as a slight favorite over Montana to win the 2015 soccer championship.
Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team in the preseason poll, which was released Thursday by the league office.
Northern Arizona and Montana each received 93 points in the coaches’ vote but the Lumberjacks garnered five first-place votes to the Grizzlies’ four, which put them over the top for first place.
The No. 3 seeded Lumberjacks captured their third Big Sky tournament championship with a 2-1 win over the No. 5 seed, Idaho State. Last year’s tournament MVP, Haley Wingender returns for a senior season after posting 12 goals in 2014. Goalkeeper Natalie Gilbertson had the best goals-against average in the Big Sky last season (0.80) and was fourth in the conference in total saves with 104 (4.95 per match).
Montana captured the regular season crown and earned a bye to the Big Sky tournament semifinals but fell to ISU. The Griz return eight starters from last year’s squad but will be without last season’s leading scorer, Hallie Widner, who was injured in the offseason. Montana has a tough schedule to start the 2015 season with Indiana State, Creighton and Purdue all making the trip to Missoula, Mont., this season.
Portland State was picked third in the conference preseason vote with 74 points. The Vikings have won five Big Sky regular season titles but are still looking for their first trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Vikings return two-time All-Big Sky First Teamer Cori Bianchini along with several other key players from last year’s regular season runner-up.
Weber State garnered two first-place votes and 72 points for fourth in the preseason poll. The Wildcats failed to qualify for last year’s Big Sky tournament but will look to make waves in the conference in 2015. WSU returns eight starters from its 2014 squad. WSU will have a tough road early in the season as it opens at 19-time national champion, North Carolina on August, 21.
Northern Colorado was picked fifth with 60 points. Rebecca Lancia was named to the All-Tournament team last season as she finished the 2014 campaign with five goals. Two-time All-Big Sky First Teamer, Adrienne Jordan, will return after posting two goals and three assists last year.
Coming in sixth in the Big Sky coaches’ poll is last season’s tournament runner-up, Idaho State. The Bengals return last season’s assist leader and Mexican national team player Maria Sanchez. Sanchez earned an appearance for Mexico in the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup and earned a medal with Mexico at the Pan-American Games.
Rounding out the preseason poll Eastern Washington was picked seventh with 49 points, Sacramento State was picked eighth with 35 points, Idaho earned a ninth place nod, Southern Utah was picked 10
th and North Dakota earned the 11
th spot.
The 2015 Big Sky Soccer Championship will be hosted Nov. 5-8, by the regular-season champion. The top six teams in the conference regular-season standings advance to the championship.
|
Rank |
Team |
Points (First Place Votes) |
|
1 |
Northern Arizona |
93 (5) |
|
2 |
Montana |
93 (4) |
|
3 |
Portland State |
74 |
|
4 |
Weber State |
72 (2) |
|
5 |
Northern Colorado |
60 |
|
6 |
Idaho State |
57 |
|
7 |
Eastern Washington |
49 |
|
8 |
Sacramento State |
35 |
|
9 |
Idaho |
32 |
|
10 |
Southern Utah |
29 |
|
11 |
North Dakota |
11 |