Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Five schools received first-place votes in the 2022 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Women’s Soccer Preseason Poll, which was announced by the league on Thursday. Colorado School of Mines tops the poll with 128 points and three first-place votes. The RMAC Women’s Soccer Preseason Poll is voted on by the league’s 13 head coaches. Coaches are not permitted to vote for their program.
 
The Orediggers enter the season after claiming a 13-5-4 overall record in 2021, which earned them an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Reese McDermott returns for Mines after leading her team with 18 points on eight goals and two assists. McDermott enters her sophomore season after claiming RMAC Freshman of the Year. Ava Harman joins McDermott on the Orediggers’ 2022 roster after the pair earned all-conference distinctions last season. Eliot Edwards, Lauren Clingman, Landry Corbett and Amena Nelson also return for the Orediggers after combining for 10 goals last season. Heading into the 2022 campaign, Mines is receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches (USC) Preseason Poll.
 
University of Colorado Colorado Springs stands tied for second in the preseason poll with 125 points and five first-place votes. The Mountain Lions will look to repeat in RMAC play after clinching a share of the 2021 RMAC regular-season title before claiming the RMAC Tournament championship. The season did not end there for the Mountain Lions, who rattled off two wins to earn a berth in the third round of the NCAA Tournament. UCCS has reloaded for the 2022 season with Makayla Merlo returning after leading her team with nine goals and an all-conference nod. Jadyn LeDoux also returns after earning an All-RMAC nod of her own following her eight goals and five assists last season. The Mountain Lions enter the 2022 season ranked No. 8 in the USC Preseason Poll.
 
Also tied for second in this year’s RMAC preseason poll is Colorado Mesa with 125 points and three first-place votes. The Mavericks return eight starters, including reigning RMAC Player of the Year Lila Dere and RMAC Defender of the Year Michaela Dangler. The duo helped RMAC Coach of the Year Megan Remec capture a regular-season co-championship. The Mavs led the RMAC in shots-on-goal per game (9.06) last season and ranked third in the league for scoring offense (2.06).
 
Westminster holds the fourth-place position with 99 points, followed by Metropolitan State University of Denver with 93 points and one first-place vote. Colorado State University Pueblo resides sixth overall with 89 points, just ahead of Regis with 85 points.
 
Fort Lewis is in eighth place with 70 points, while Colorado Christian sits ninth overall with 65 points. Black Hills State captures the final first-place vote and stamps 49 points to earn the 10th-place spot, followed by Western Colorado in 11th place with 37 points. Rounding out the preseason poll is Adams State with 30 points, followed by New Mexico Highlands with 19 points.