UConn Women’s Soccer Ranked No. 14 in United Soccer Coaches Poll

The UConn women’s soccer team is the 14th-best team in the country, according to the United Soccer Coaches preseason poll. They are the only team in the American Athletic Conference to be ranked in the top-25.

The Huskies will play two games against teams ranked in the poll. They face off against No. 21 Rutgers on August 27 and host No. 17 Arkansas on September 8.

The ranking seems to be based on respect towards UConn’s overall strength as a program as well as their success last season, as opposed to their outlook going into the season. At the moment, Len Tsantris’ squad has more question marks than answers, as the team lost 91.2% of its scoring and 61.6% of their assists to graduation. On top of that, they lost a four-year starter in goal.

However, they bring in strong talent in the form of transfers and freshmen. TCU transfer Courtney Hofer projects to start in goal while Vivien Beil and Elena Santos should help at midfield and defense, respectively.

The Huskies also have a handful of strong returners in senior Sabrina Toole, junior Kim Urbanek, and sophomore Alexa Casimiro, among others.

UConn’s first preseason game is a week away on August 11 against Boston College, with the first regular season game coming on August 21 at Syracuse.