Aug. 18, 2004
SANTA CLARA, Calif. -
The Santa Clara University women's soccer team led three West Coast Conference squads that were listed in the Soccer Buzz preseason poll.
The Broncos are the highest ranking WCC team, coming in at No. 3, while the University of Portland is ranked No. 7 and Pepperdine University is ranked No. 29. This marks the third consecutive season that Santa Clara and Portland have garnered Soccer Buzz preseason top 10 honors.
Santa Clara opens its season Aug. 27 at Cal Poly in the first of seven-straight road games to begin the year. The Broncos play at home for the first time on Sept. 24 against Marquette in the adidas Classic. Season tickets, family plans and single match tickets are on sale by calling the athletic ticket office at 408/554-4660 or by clicking here. The team will appear for the first time publicly at SCU SoccerFest on Saturday night at 7 p.m. at Buck Shaw Stadium.
Defending national champion North Carolina claims the top spot in this year's poll, followed by Notre Dame at No. 2, the Broncos at No. 3, Texas A&M at No. 4 and Florida State at No. 5. Rounding out the top 10 is Florida at No. 6, the Pilots at No. 7, Texas at No. 8, Connecticut at No. 9 and Ohio State at No. 10.
In addition to boasting three teams in the top 30, five WCC schools were listed in the West Region preseason top 15. Santa Clara and Portland claim the top two spots, respectively, while Pepperdine is listed No. 7. Loyola Marymount University comes in at No. 13, while the University of San Diego is listed at No. 14 and Gonzaga University is receiving votes. The five selections in the West Region ties the Pacific-10 Conference for the most in the region.
2004 Soccer Buzz Preseason Top 30 Poll
1. North Carolina
2. Notre Dame
3. Santa Clara
4. Texas A&M
5. Florida State
6. Florida
7. Portland
8. Texas
9. Connecticut
10. Ohio State
11. Kansas
12. Penn State
13. Virginia
14. Arizona State
15. Michigan
16. UCLA
17. Colorado
18. Utah
19. Illinois
20. West Virginia
21. SMU
22. Cal Poly
23. Tennessee
24. Duke
25. Villanova
26. Nebraska
27. Princeton
28. Auburn
29. Pepperdine
30. Boston College