TCU Soccer To Begin Season Ranked In Top Ten

The United Soccer Coaches Top 25 Preseason Poll has the Horned Frogs ranked No. 7

TCU athletics

The TCU women’s soccer team, the reigning Big 12 champions, begin their season in just over two weeks when they take on Wisconsin. Last year was an excellent season for the team – 19 wins (most in program history), a Big 12 regular season championship and tournament championship, plus an appearance in the NCAA’s Sweet Sixteen. They look to defend the two titles and have plans to advance further in the postseason.

They now know they will begin the season with a target on their back with a Top Ten preseason ranking. The United Soccer Coaches Top 25 Preseason Poll was released on Tuesday. The Horned Frogs are ranked No. 7. It marks the second straight season that the team starts the season in the Top Ten.

The Horned Frogs rewrote the school record book in 2021, posting season records for wins (19), goals (60), assists (72), points (192), and shutouts (13). TCU was one of three schools to rank in the top 10 nationally in goals against average and total points.

Eric Bell enters his 11th season as the leader of the Horned Frogs. A two-time Big 12 Coach of the Year (2020, 2021), Bell, associate head coach Ryan Higginbotham, and assistant coach Tom Serratore were voted the United Soccer Coaches Midwest Region Staff of the Year for the second straight year in 2021.

TCU returns seven Big 12 All-Conference selections from last season. Lauren Kellett was tabbed Goalkeeper of the Year after limiting opponents to 13 goals and combining for 13 shutouts on the season. She set a new TCU standard with ten shutouts. Additionally, the Frogs return Messiah Bright, who was one of 15 semifinalists for the prestigious MAC Hermann Trophy Award. Bright, a United Soccer Coaches Association All-American, became the first ever Horned Frog to record a 40-point season (17 goals, six assists).

TCU will face three teams that also are in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 Preseason Poll – No. 5 Santa Clara (August 25 in Fort Worth), No. 2 Duke (September 4 in Fort Worth), and No. 15 USC (September 1 in Los Angeles). The Frogs will also face three other teams that all received votes in the preseason poll – Wisconsin (August 18), Harvard (September 17), and Texas (September 22).

Here is the complete preseason poll:

United Soccer Coaches Top 25 Preseason Poll

1. Florida State
2. Duke
3. Brigham Young
4. Virginia
5. Santa Clara
6. Rutgers
7. TCU
8. Arkansas
9. Michigan
10. North Carolina
11. Tennessee
12. South Carolina
13. UCLA
14. Penn State
15. USC
16. Notre Dame
17. Pepperdine
18. Ole Miss
19. Georgetown
20. Washington State
21. Stanford
22. Memphis
23. SMU
24. Xavier
25. Clemson

Next up: TCU opens the season on Thursday, August 18 against Wisconsin. The match will be at 7 p.m at Garvey-Rosenthal Soccer Stadium & Jane Justin Field House in Fort Worth. 

Click here to see the TCU Horned Frogs 2022 schedule.

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