PROVIDENCE, R.I. – By unanimous selection, UConn was voted the women’s soccer favorites in the American Athletic Conference in the preseason coaches’ poll, the conference announced Tuesday.

The American regular season champions posted a 19-4-0 record and advanced to the third round of the NCAA Women’s College Cup in 2015. It marked the 30^th NCAA tournament appearance for the Huskies and their second consecutive NCAA appearance. Earlier this month, the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) ranked UConn 15^th in their preseason poll. The Huskies returns two NSCAA All-Americans in Rachel Hill and Stephanie Ribeiro for their senior seasons. Hill and Ribeiro were also named to the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List as announced earlier this preseason.

USF placed second in the coaches’ poll with 65 points. The Bulls received votes in this season’s NSCAA preseason poll. UCF and Cincinnati tied for third place each receiving 64 votes. The Knights also received votes in the NSCAA poll and the Bearcats are the reigning American tournament champions.

Memphis followed in fifth place as the team tallied 46 points, while Tulsa received 42 points to claim sixth.  East Carolina finished in seventh with 30 points followed by Temple in eighth (29 points), SMU in ninth (20 points) and Houston in 10th (nine points).



UConn’s Rachel Hill was voted the unanimous Preseason Offensive Player of the Year. This is the second straight year she has been a unanimous selection and her third time overall receiving the recognition. Hill started in all 23 matches last season and led the league in points with 36 as she scored 16 goals and had four assists. She also led the league in goals (16), goals per game (0.70), and game-winning goals (six). She was named The American Co-Offensive Player of the Year and was also a MAC Hermann Semifinalist in 2015.

Cincinnati’s Vanessa Gilles was selected as the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. Gilles was named to the All-Conference Second Team in 2015. She was also named to the All-Tournament team as she helped her team to a conference championship and also won the Defensive Player of the Tournament award.

UConn’s Emily Armstrong was named the Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year as voted by the coaches. In 2015, Armstrong was named the American Goalkeeper of the Year as she made 31 saves and only allowed four goals in conference play. She finished the season with a goals allowed average of 0.94 and recorded eight individual shutout and two combined shutouts.

The 2016 women’s soccer season begins August 19 with conference play beginning September 29.