Wisconsin Soccer Central

Big East Conference women's soccer coaches expect Marquette to continue its dominance of the league this fall.

The Golden Eagles, who have won the past five conference titles and are unbeaten in their past 28 Big East matches, were the unanimous pick atop the preseason coaches' poll.

Marquette received the maximum nine first-place votes and 81 points in the poll – none of the 10 coaches were allowed to vote for their own teams. Georgetown, which went 7-1-1 to finish second behind the Golden Eagles (9-0-0) last fall, got the other first-place vote and was second in the poll with 72 points.

Senior midfielders Mary Luba (Shorewood) and Mady Vicker (Whitefish Bay) were among the 11 players named to the Preseason All-Big East team.

With 10 starters returning, the University of Wisconsin was picked to challenge for the Big Ten Conference title.

The Badgers, who tied for fifth in the league with a 5-5-1 record last season, have 89 percent of their goal-scoring back from 2013.

That includes sophomore midfielder Rose Lavelle, last year's Big Ten Freshman of the Year. She was named one of the conference's Players to Watch along with UW senior forward Cara Walls (Wauwatosa East) and senior goalkeeper Genevieve Richard.

After winning the past 14 regular-season titles, UW-Milwaukee was unsurprisingly the favorite again this fall.

The Panthers, whose conference championship run is the longest active streak in NCAA Division I women's soccer, got six of the nine first-place votes and 62 points in the preseason conference coaches' poll.

Oakland received two first-place votes and was second in the poll, while third-place Wright State claimed the other No. 1 vote. UW-Green Bay – under the guidance of new coach Kacey Burke – was picked eighth in the league, ahead of only first-year program Illinois-Chicago.