In exclusive voting by the league's head coaches, Trinity University is the unanimous choice to repeat as Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference women's soccer champions.
Following its third-straight and 11th SCAC Tournament Title in the last 12 years, the Tigers received all eight first-place votes to earned 64 points in the preseason balloting. Trinity, which leads the SCAC with 26 women's titles, trails only the Tiger men's tennis program (27) for the most conference crowns in league history.
Southwestern University and Texas Lutheran University each received 52 points from the coaches to finish tied for second in the preseason polling. Southwestern heads into 2023 having won 24 fixtures over the last two seasons, the second-most in the SCAC during that span, while Texas Lutheran advanced to the SCAC Tournament final last year for the first time since 2017. The Bulldogs' 11 wins a season ago are the most for the program since 2015. Schreiner University, which secured five SCAC wins last year for the first time since 2017 and returned to the conference semifinals for the first time since 2018, checks in at fourth with 36 points. University of St. Thomas is coming off its most SCAC wins (four) in a single season in program history and rounds out the top five with 31 total points.
Returning for St. Thomas is their golden boot winner Emily McCoy. In her two years as a Celt, McCoy has found ways to make strides each year. To go along with three game-winners, she also puts opposing goalkeepers on notice with nearly 70% of her shots going on goal. In addition, defender Paola Colon and Midfielder Emma Cerda will look to improve on last year's campaign. Colon received a second-team All-SCAC nomination after anchoring various positions as a defender which locked up opponents. Emma Cerda was named to the all-freshman team last season after playing in 17 matches with 14 starts. She got it done as a midfielder helping the Celts in transition and defending the midlines. Offensively, she also chipped in a goal and an assist.
This offseason, St. Thomas hired Alumnus Nataki Stewart '14 as the new Head Coach of Women's Soccer. Stewart came to St. Thomas from the highly-ranked Angelina College in Lufkin, Texas. He also brought in his staff of Paul Murillo, Daniel Fragachan, and Alex Baez.
