The SLU Billikens went 20-2 and won the Atlantic 10 Conference and Tournament championships last season. (Photo: Thomas Grove)

Paige Dale
Staff Writer

KANSAS CITY, MO — The Saint Louis University women’s soccer team was ranked No. 21 in the United Soccer Coaches 2023 NCAA Division I preseason national poll, which was released on Tuesday.

The national ranking is the second for Saint Louis in a United Soccer Coaches preseason poll, following the 2021 team’s No. 21 initial rating. SLU’s 2006 and 2019 teams were among those listed in the “also receiving votes” section of the preseason rankings.

The Billikens finished the 2022 ranked No. 20 in the country, after reaching as high as No. 10 during the season.

Defending national champion UCLA is the preseason No. 1, with 2022 national runner-up North Carolina at No. 2, followed by Notre Dame, Duke and Virginia. Florida State, Alabama, Arkansas, TCU and Penn State round out the top 10.

Among Saint Louis’ 2023 opponents, BYU is No. 13, while Xavier, Brown and Nebraska also received votes.

Saint Louis opens the season at BYU on Thursday, August 17. The game is one of only three opening-night contests matching nationally ranked opponents, joining No. 2 North Carolina at No. 10 Penn State and No. 12 South Carolina at No. 25 Clemson.

SLU will play exhibition games at Lindenwood (August 8) and at home versus Evansville (August 12), prior to the regular-season opener at BYU. The home opener at Hermann Stadium will be August 24 against Creighton.

NCAA WOMEN’S NATIONAL – PRE-SEASON POLL – AUGUST 1, 2023

RankSchoolPrev1st VotesTotal PointsW-L-T
1.UCLA1820022-2-1
2.University of North Carolina2019220-5-1
3.University of Notre Dame5017417-3-3
4.Duke University6016115-5-3
5.University of Virginia7015516-4-3
6.Florida State University3015417-3-3
7.University of Alabama4014523-3-1
8.University of Arkansas8013713-4-5
9.TCU10013014-5-5
10.Penn State University13012315-5-3
11.Stanford University16011817-2-3
12.University of South Carolina9011115-4-5
13.Brigham Young University14010811-3-7
14.University of Pittsburgh1209214-5-3
15.University of Texas1707915-3-4
16.Georgetown University1907515-2-5
17.Michigan State University1507118-3-3
18.Northwestern University1106516-5-2
19.Santa Clara University2205211-7-3
20.University of MemphisNR04711-5-6
21.Saint Louis University2004420-2-0
22.University of Southern California2304012-3-3
23.Harvard University2503212-2-3
24.University of Central Florida230259-2-7
25.Clemson UniversityNR0168-5-5

Records shown are final 2022 records.

Also receiving votes: University of California-Irvine (14), Xavier University (9), Brown University (7), Virginia Tech (7), Texas A&M University (5), Southern Methodist University (4), Rutgers University (3), University of Nebraska (2), University of Georgia (2), Samford University (1).