College women: 2015 conference preseason polls, honors
The University of Wisconsin women's soccer team set a program record for wins last season, but lost several key contributors to graduation.
Big Ten Conference coaches project coach Paula Wilkins' Badgers to finish fourth in the league this season, two spots lower than their placement in last year's regular-season standings.
That's despite UW returning first-team, All-Big Ten midfielders Rose Lavelle and Kinley McNicoll, both regular youth internationals, and defender Brianna Stelzer, a second-team all-conference pick in 2014. The three were all named Big Ten Players to Watch this season.
Minnesota junior midfielder Josee Stiever (Cedarburg) also was selected as a player to watch.
| Place | Team |
|---|---|
| 1 | Penn State |
| 2 | Michigan |
| 3 | Rutgers |
| 4 | Wisconsin |
| 5 | Illinois |
| 6 | Minnesota |
| 7 | Maryland |
| 8 | Northwestern |
| 9 | Ohio State |
| 10 | Nebraska |
| 11 | Iowa |
| 12 | Michigan State |
| 13 | Indiana |
| 14 | Purdue |
BIG EAST CONFERENCE
Conference coaches think this season is going to look a lot like last season finished.
After finishing fourth in 2014, Marquette is fourth in the preseason poll behind DePaul, St. John's and Georgetown – the three teams that finished ahead of the Golden Eagles (10-8-3 overall, 5-3-1 Big East) a year ago.
Two juniors, midfielder-forward Liz Bartels and defender Morgan Proffitt, were named to the 15-member Preseason All-Big East team for Marquette, which returns seven starters from last year's team.
| Place | Team | 1st-place votes | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | DePaul | 4 | 73 |
| T1 | St. John's | 4 | 73 |
| 3 | Georgetown | 2 | 70 |
| 4 | Marquette | 60 | |
| 5 | Providence | 47 | |
| 6 | Butler | 42 | |
| 7 | Villanova | 31 | |
| 8 | Creighton | 24 | |
| 9 | Seton Hall | 19 | |
| 10 | Xavier | 11 |
HORIZON LEAGUE
The state's two Horizon League teams, which both have new coaches this season, were picked to have similar seasons by conference coaches.
Kim Brandão and UW-Green Bay are seventh in the preseason poll, one spot ahead of Troy Fabiano (Kenosha Bradford) and UW-Milwaukee. The Phoenix finished fourth last fall and the Panthers were eighth in what was a nine-team league – the conference has grown to 10 with the addition of Northern Kentucky.
| Place | Team | 1st-place votes | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Valparaiso | 9 | 81 |
| 2 | Oakland | 1 | 63 |
| 3 | Detroit | 60 | |
| 4 | Cleveland State | 48 | |
| 5 | Northern Kentucky | 43 | |
| 6 | Wright State | 40 | |
| 7 | UW-Green Bay | 38 | |
| 8 | UW-Milwaukee | 34 | |
| 9 | Youngstown State | 29 | |
| 10 | Illinois-Chicago | 14 |
GREAT LAKES VALLEY CONFERENCE
| Place | Team | 1st-place votes | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bellarmine (Ky.) | 9 | 219 |
| 2 | Rockhurst (Mo.) | 196 | |
| 3 | Truman State (Mo.) | 3 | 188 |
| 4 | UW-Parkside | 4 | 184 |
| 5 | Quincy (Ill.) | 170 | |
| 6 | Drury (Mo.) | 168 | |
| 7 | Lewis (Ill.) | 133 | |
| 8 | Missouri S&T | 116 | |
| 9 | Missouri-St. Louis | 108 | |
| 10 | McKendree (Mo.) | 94 | |
| T11 | Maryville (Mo.) | 80 | |
| T11 | William Jewell (Mo.) | 80 | |
| 13 | Indianapolis | 76 | |
| 14 | Southern Indiana | 61 | |
| 15 | Illinois-Springfield | 32 | |
| 16 | St. Joseph's (Ind.) | 15 |
WISCONSIN INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
| Place | Team |
|---|---|
| 1 | UW-Whitewater |
| 2 | UW-Oshkosh |
| 3 | UW-Eau Claire |
| 4 | UW-La Crosse |
| 5 | UW-River Falls |
| 6 | UW-Stout |
| 7 | UW-Stevens Point |
| 8 | UW-Platteville |
NORTHERN ATHLETICS COLLEGIATE CONFERENCE
| Place | Team | 1st-place votes | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aurora (Ill.) | 21 | 241 |
| 2 | Concordia (Wis.) | 1 | 213 |
| 3 | Edgewood College | 190 | |
| 4 | Dominican (Ill.) | 171 | |
| 5 | Milwaukee School of Engineering | 161 | |
| 6 | Marian | 134 | |
| 7 | Concordia (Ill.) | 113 | |
| 8 | Benedictine (Ill.) | 87 | |
| 9 | Wisconsin Lutheran | 71 | |
| 10 | Alverno | 42 | |
| 11 | Lakeland | 29 |
MIDWEST CONFERENCE
| Place | Team | 1st-place votes | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lake Forest (Ill.) | 10 | 100 |
| 2 | Carroll | 82 | |
| 3 | Ripon | 1 | 78 |
| 4 | Grinnell (Iowa) | 76 | |
| 5 | St. Norbert | 74 | |
| 6 | Lawrence | 53 | |
| 7 | Monmouth (Ill.) | 39 | |
| 8 | Illinois College | 38 | |
| 9 | Cornell (Iowa) | 28 | |
| 10 | Knox (Ill.) | 27 | |
| 11 | Beloit College | 16 |
COLLEGE CONFERENCE OF ILLINOIS AND WISCONSIN
| Place | Team | 1st-place votes | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wheaton (Ill.) | 5 | 47 |
| 2 | Illinois Wesleyan | 3 | 45 |
| 3 | Augustana (Ill.) | 33 | |
| 4 | Carthage | 32 | |
| 5 | Elmhurst (Ill.) | 27 | |
| 6 | North Central (Ill.) | 18 | |
| 7 | North Park (Ill.) | 14 | |
| 8 | Millikin (Ill.) | 8 |
UPPER MIDWEST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
| Place | Team | 1st-place votes | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | St. Scholastica (Minn.) | 7 | 63 |
| 2 | Minnesota-Morris | 2 | 57 |
| 3 | Northwestern (Minn.) | 38 | |
| T4 | Bethany Lutheran (Minn.) | 36 | |
| T4 | UW-Superior | 36 | |
| 6 | Martin Luther (MInn.) | 35 | |
| 7 | Northland | 32 | |
| 8 | Crown (Minn.) | 18 | |
| 9 | North Central (Minn.) | 9 |
NORTH STAR ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION
| Place | Team | 1st-place votes | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bellevue (Neb.) | 3 | 15 |
| 2 | Viterbo | 2 | 14 |
| 3 | Jamestown (N.D.) | 10 | |
| 4 | Waldorf (Iowa) | 7 | |
| 5 | Presentation (S.D.) | 4 |
Note: The Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference, which includes Cardinal Stritch, doesn't conduct a preseason conference poll.
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