Aug. 18, 2010
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -
Stanford and North Carolina, last year's Women's College Cup finalists, are ranked 1-2 in the Soccer America Women's Preseason Top 25 rankings, as selected by its editors and released Wednesday.
North Carolina beat Stanford, 1-0, to snap the Cardinal's 25-game winning streak, but the Cardinal will get a rematch when it travels to Chapel Hill to face the Tar Heels on Aug. 27 at the Carolina Nike Classic.
UNC opens the season Friday at No. 8 Texas A&M, which returns all 11 starters from last season. UNC's regular-season schedule includes matches against No. 1 Stanford, No. 6 Boston College, No. 7 Virginia, No. 8 Texas A&M, No. 9 Florida State, No. 12 Maryland, No. 13 Florida, No. 15 Wake Forest, No. 17 Virginia Tech and No. 24 Duke.
Portland is No. 3 in the Soccer America Preseason Top 25, while Notre Dame and UCLA, who joined UNC and Stanford at the 2009 College Cup, round out the top five.
The ACC leads all conferences with eight teams in the Top 25. The Pac-10 is second with four.
Soccer America Women's Preseason Top 25
RANK/TEAM (2009 RECORD)
1. Stanford (25-1-0)
2. North Carolina (23-3-1)
3. Portland (21-2-0)
4. Notre Dame (21-4-1)
5. UCLA (21-3-1)
6. Boston College (18-4-2)
7. Virginia (10-6-6)
8. Texas A&M (15-7-3)
9. Florida State (19-5-1)
10. Santa Clara (14-7-2)
11. Penn State (13-6-2)
12. Maryland (14-6-2)
13. Florida (16-6-2)
14. BYU (18-4-2)
15. Wake Forest (16-6-2)
16. Wisconsin (10-6-5)
17. Virginia Tech (16-8-0)
18. Memphis (16-7-0)
19. Oklahoma State (15-7-2)
20. USC (12-6-3)
21. Dayton (16-1-6)
22. Marquette (15-5-3)
23. South Carolina (19-4-2)
24. Duke (8-9-4)
25. California (11-9-1)
Note: The Soccer America Women's Top 25 will appear in the College Reporter each Monday during the regular season.
