Women's Soccer Picked To Finish 10th In SCAC Preseason Poll
The Centenary women's soccer team was picked to finish 10th in the conference in the preseason poll released on Tuesday.
SUWANEE, Ga. -- In exclusive balloting by the league's head coaches, Texas Lutheran University has been tabbed the preseason favorite for the 2025 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) women's soccer crown.
Following its second SCAC Tournament final appearance in the last three years in 2024, the Bulldogs received nine out of a possible 11 first-place votes to earn 119 points in the preseason poll.
With Trinity University and Southwestern University – who combined earned the SCAC's automatic bid each of the last 15 seasons – having both departed for a new conference, this year will mark the first season since 2008 that a program other than the Tigers or the Pirates will earn the league's NCAA Tournament berth.
Texas Lutheran (13-6-1, 8-2-0) returns 10 all-SCAC honorees from a year ago, including four First and Second Team honorees, led by First Team defender Jessica Robinson. Robinson, who has started in all 57 games in her career and logged over 4,500 career minutes, will anchor a Bulldog defensive unit that allowed the third fewest goals (20) in the SCAC last season. She will be joined in the defensive third by All-SCAC Second Team and All-Freshman honoree Noelani Ajel, who returns for her sophomore season after helping TLU post a 0.99 GAA in 2024 – third best in the SCAC.
Offensively, TLU returns three of its top four scorers from the 2024 squad as the Bulldogs finished first in the SCAC in goals per game (2.30) and scored in goals scored (46). Second Team All-SCAC performer Klarissa Martinez and Honorable Mention honoree Callie Brame, who both finished in the top 10 in the SCAC last year in total points, will lead the charge offensively after combining for 11 goals, 18 assists and 40 total points a season ago.
Leading Texas Lutheran on the sidelines is head coach Kerwin Johnson, who enters his fourth season at the helm of the program. In his first three seasons, Johnson has led the Bulldogs to 33 wins, the most in a three-year stretch since TLU entered the SCAC prior to the 2013 season. The team's 13 wins last year are tied for the most in any season since joining the league.
Finishing second in the preseason coaches' polling was Concordia University (Texas), who received the remining two first-place votes to finish with 112 points, followed closely by McMurry University with 96 points. The Tornados, who advanced to the SCAC Tournament Semifinals last season in their inaugural season in the conference, have secured nine or more wins in three of the last four years, while the War Hawks are looking to qualify for the SCAC postseason for the first time in program history as they prepare for their final season in the conference.
Austin College, which secured it's most wins in a single season (9) since winning 11 in 2014, collected 73 points to finish fourth in the preseason rankings. Hendrix College, which returns to the conference after exiting following the 2011 season, rounds out the women's soccer coaches preseason top five with 70 total points.
Continuing to work through the preseason rankings, University of St. Thomas was the coaches' sixth selection with 68 points, while Schreiner University followed in seventh with 52 points. Dallas, which welcomes in a new era under the guidance of head coach Jeremiah Navarez in 2025, was eighth with 46 points.
SCAC debutant, LeTourmeau University was selected ninth with 36 points and Centenary College (30) and University of the Ozarks (24) rounded out the coaches' selections in 10th and 11th, respectively.
The SCAC women's soccer season begins on Friday, August 29, with several teams competing in non-conference action over Labor Day weekend. The first conference matches of the season are scheduled for the last weekend in September.
The 2025 SCAC Women's Soccer Tournament, which returns to a six-team format for the first time since the 2020-21 Covid-19 shortened season, will be held in November at the Round Rock Multipurpose Complex. Quarterfinal matches will be contested on Thursday, November 6, the semifinal matches on Friday, November 7 and the championship match will be played Sunday, November 9.
| 2025 SCAC Women's Soccer Preseason Coaches' Poll (first-place votes in parentheses, followed by total points) |
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| 1. | Texas Lutheran University (9) | 119 |
| 2. | Concordia University (Texas) (2) | 112 |
| 3. | McMurry University | 96 |
| 4. | Austin College | 73 |
| 5. | Hendrix College | 70 |
| 6. | University of St. Thomas | 68 |
| 7. | Schreiner University | 52 |
| 8. | University of Dallas | 46 |
| 9. | LeTourneau University | 36 |
| 10. | Centenary College | 30 |
| 11. | University of Ozarks | 24 |
